Need Advice with my Upgrade

froyotlbw88

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I've had the Epic 4G since December 2010. I like the phone and everything but I hate the lack of updates. It took forever for Froyo and then forever again for Gingerbread. Granted...I did root it and had fun with that. But even CM7 didn't get out of an Alpha. But that's neither here nor there. Gingerbread is coming soon to the Epic and Ice Cream Sandwich is coming to the rest of the world. I have a upgrade available and I don't know why and I'm not complaining about it. I don't think the Galaxy Nexus will see Sprint before next summer when Sprint starts unrolling LTE to some markets. Between now and then I can't stand seeing all these other phones with Ice Cream Sandwich knowing that I just got Gingerbread. I'd preferably like to obtain a Nexus S 4G for cheap and activate it on my line then wait for the Galaxy Nexus to release and use my upgrade on that. In the likely event that I don't get such grace, does anyone think that I should use my upgrade now and get the Nexus S 4G? Or should I just keep my phone and suck it up and wait? :-!
 

Paul627g

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I would wait it out. Probably the best you can do on Ebay or Craigs list is around $150.00 for a Nexus S 4g.
 

Skunkape60

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Really? Which phones currently have Ice Cream Sandwich? You say your happy with the epic other than the lack of updates.

I came to this website because the sales rep told me to check it out. He was who told me that with froyo I would have flash video and the ability to move programs to my sd card. Cool....

If he would have said nothing, I would be like the other 90% of phone owners and never have know that I needed an update.

Unless an update gives my phone the ability to do something I want or need (like flash) I don't even want it. I don't think gingerbread is going to give me anything different that I want our need.

If your phone is doing what you expect it to, I really think it's borderline foolish to update it. From what I've seen updates rarely make the devices better and often make them worse.

Can someone tell me what ice cream is supposed to give me?

If it's just better stability, I may pass on that one as well. My bone stock froyo epic hasn't restarted, locked up or even burped in over 2 months. Can it get any more stable?

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froyotlbw88

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Mostly I want an update that will help preserve my battery life since EC05 did a terrible job with that for me. I also like the some of the features that ICS offers. It completely revamps Android. Plus I just get bored of the same thing all the time. I've rooted my phone and put more ROMs than I can remember on here. I want to learn something new.
 

ronald600

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Mostly I want an update that will help preserve my battery life since EC05 did a terrible job with that for me. I also like the some of the features that ICS offers. It completely revamps Android. Plus I just get bored of the same thing all the time. I've rooted my phone and put more ROMs than I can remember on here. I want to learn something new.

Not to rain on your but
There is little difference between the Epic 4G and the Nexus S4G
In fact if you strip away all Samsung bloatware and you put the 2 phones side by side.
You really wont see any difference.


If there is something you want to learn
Why not learn how to maximaze your battery life.
It really does not make sense to replace a wimax phone with another wimax phone

If you want ICS then root your phone and put ICS on it.
 

froyotlbw88

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If you want ICS then root your phone and put ICS on it.

That's assuming that developers are interested in making ROMs for my phone still. We're finally seeing a kernel release for gingerbread after about 8 months or promises. I wouldn't be surprised if many of the developers (whom I love by the way) have jumped shipped for a product with better specs.
 

Paul627g

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Trust me there are still plenty of devs left for the Epic 4g and "silent" ones just waiting in the shadows to come alive when official GB drops. There will be plenty of custom ROMs, kernels and themes built for it because any good dev knows that the Epic 4g still has plenty of life left in it for development with GB.

@Keith, I've said this before and I will say it again.. Those who have been around the Epic 4g forums for a long time know your stance on upgrading, rooting, and life on the Epic 4g. Nobody is telling you to upgrade/root or anything else like I've said before. If your happy, thats great :) Your one of the many diehards still around in these forums from the early days of the Epic and we thank you for that ;)

I will say that even Google has acknowledged Gingerbread will run better than Froyo, stability, battery and a few extra goodies here and there so the option is out there for anyone who is interested once it becomes available.

I fully understand many are frustrated waiting all this time but I really do believe the final outcome of Gingerbread will be a good one, especially for those rooted who will get to really enjoy the kernels and ROMs made from the official source.

Everyone needs to relax, and enjoy your Epic 4g... Its a awesome device and I would still be rockin it if it wasn't for Sprint giving me 3 bad refurbs in a row... I still grab my wife's Epic from time to time and play around with a little tear in the eye... :'(
 

lafountain

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Here is my suggestion on your questions. Take a look at the marketplace on here, if someone is selling a Nexus at a fairly decent price, go that route and buy a used one and save your upgrade. In a year when the LTE devices start coming out, you will likely want one (my guess) and would not be able to upgrade at that point. If you aren't able to find a decent used Nexus, stick with your Epic, it is still a great device.

As for the Epic, I am happy to see that it looks like GB is coming to us as I am one that still runs stock. It has been a great device, are there better now, absolutely, but the Epic still does everything that I could want my phone to do. Though I would like GB and some of the things that it is supposed to give us.
 

ronald600

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For anyone with an Epic who is thinking about an upgrade my question is this.
What other phone from Sprint has a physical keyboard and 4 inch screen?
The only other 4G phone with a keyboard is the EVO Shift
For as bad as people think the Epic is
It sure speaks volumes about the phone that there are now LTE versions coming out on different carriers.
Sprint canceled the EOL on the Epic because there is nothing to replace it with from Sprint.
If Sprint got the Motorola 4G physical keyboard phone then there is an upgrade path.
To go from having a physical keyboard to touch screen only is not upgrading.
No matter how hard they try to trick us. People who really deal with a lot of email cant fuction without that physical keyboard
 

digitalfan

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That's assuming that developers are interested in making ROMs for my phone still. We're finally seeing a kernel release for gingerbread after about 8 months or promises. I wouldn't be surprised if many of the developers (whom I love by the way) have jumped shipped for a product with better specs.

Even if there are not developers working on Epic 4G, th Nexus S 4G is th exact same phone and it will get ICS. Which means a port would not be hard. Best thing to do is switch on craiglist or buy it. Don't waste an upgrade for a Nexus S 4G if you have an Epic 4G. But wait a while ... Whever Nexus S gets ICS, so will the Epic, even if it's not official.
 

Donmeister85

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Very interesting thread. I once considered getting a used Nexus S this past week. Thing is, I have to use my upgrade by the end of the year, or wait another 8 to 10 months for an upgrade. Take a look at the amount of ROMs available for the Nexus S. Even CM7. Plus, it's slated to get ICS in a few weeks. I'd love to get my hands on one, and had I not gotten the Epic 4G, I would've gotten a Nexus S when it came out on Sprint. I was really hoping for that Galaxy Nexus to be on Sprint by the end of the year, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. Oh well. Choices choices... Gotta love Android. :)
 

Paul627g

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Very interesting thread. I once considered getting a used Nexus S this past week. Thing is, I have to use my upgrade by the end of the year, or wait another 8 to 10 months for an upgrade. Take a look at the amount of ROMs available for the Nexus S. Even CM7. Plus, it's slated to get ICS in a few weeks. I'd love to get my hands on one, and had I not gotten the Epic 4G, I would've gotten a Nexus S when it came out on Sprint. I was really hoping for that Galaxy Nexus to be on Sprint by the end of the year, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen. Oh well. Choices choices... Gotta love Android. :)

If I was in your boat and HAD to use my upgrade then I would go with the SGSII-Epic Touch. Its not a bad device, already getting decent development love from ACS and others. If it comes down to it and you want a Galaxy Nexus whenever it does hit you can always sell that Epic Touch on Ebay/Craigs list like many people do and move into the Galaxy Nexus.

I'm at a rock and hard place.. My upgrade doesn't pop until about 300 days from now according to Sprints website so whenever the Galaxy Nexus does come out I will have to pay the full boat for it or see what type of deal Sprint can swing at that time... I'm sure many people will be bartering with Sprint in the coming year over upgrade schedules and getting on the new devices coming out.
 

froyotlbw88

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To go from having a physical keyboard to touch screen only is not upgrading.
No matter how hard they try to trick us. People who really deal with a lot of email cant fuction without that physical keyboard

You know, I thought about all these things when I first bought my phone. I thought about my need for a physical keyboard and typing emails and blah blah blah. And I don't even use the keyboard. The only time I open my keyboard is when I'm putting my phone in download mode while running Odin. Between Swype and Swiftkey I have no need for a keyboard. I type faster and just as efficiently as I did with a keyboard on previous phones. This isn't Windows Mobile 6. Our OS is built for our fingers.
 

froyotlbw88

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If I was in your boat and HAD to use my upgrade then I would go with the SGSII-Epic Touch. Its not a bad device, already getting decent development love from ACS and others. If it comes down to it and you want a Galaxy Nexus whenever it does hit you can always sell that Epic Touch on Ebay/Craigs list like many people do and move into the Galaxy Nexus.

The Epic 4G Touch is an amazing phone. A close colleague can't get over how much better it is than his Evo was. My issue is that I want to get the pure Google experience. I want to experience a hardware/software relationship made in heaven. Touchwiz finally grew on my but I don't really want it anymore. I don't want Sense. I don't want Blur. I finally understood Android when I saw what Amazon did with the Kindle Fire. Android is your opportunity to make your own O/S for free. You don't ever have to go along with the Google updates. You don't have to put Google apps. The Fascinate put freaking Bing on their phone. That was disrespectful. I had vanilla Froyo and vanilla Gingerbread on my Epic but it came with some bugs as it was a custom ROM. I just wanna experience pure Android on a Google phone. I might not root...I might stay stock ROM rooted. Idk. Its just my preference.
 

Paul627g

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I understand.. The timing of users upgrades on their Sprint plan and release of the Galaxy Nexus is hard to juggle.. I'm glad I got the opportunity to swap out from my Epic 4g to the NS4G at the time I did so I can enjoy Pure Google and ICS very soon and still be able to hold out for the new Nexus.

I know many people are just either using up their upgrades on the NS4G or Epic Touch at this point in time. Its a tough decision...
 

froyotlbw88

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Well I'll keep looking. I have the worst luck. I found someone on Craigslist that wanted to do an even swap. They wanted to trade their Nexus S 4G for an Epic 4G. But I saw the post a week late and he had already sold it. FML
 

Donmeister85

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If I was in your boat and HAD to use my upgrade then I would go with the SGSII-Epic Touch. Its not a bad device, already getting decent development love from ACS and others. If it comes down to it and you want a Galaxy Nexus whenever it does hit you can always sell that Epic Touch on Ebay/Craigs list like many people do and move into the Galaxy Nexus.

Yeah, I've pretty much made up my mind on that. Looks like the most powerful Android on Sprint right now. I'll get one for the wife too so she can stop complaining about stuff that her *cough* Moment can't do. Also, she'll be able to play Angry Birds on her new phone instead of taking mine all the time. Lol :D
 

Skunkape60

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Decided to call the number that was posted for an early upgrade. I bought my epic at the same time I started my contract (september 5 2010). I was told when I bought my phone I would be eligible for an upgrade after 1 year. I decided I didn't want a keyboard so I went online to buy the epic touch and it said I won't be eligible until july of 2010 (wtf). I remembered a post about calling a toll free number to get your upgrade early if you lost your upgrade due to changes in their program. I found the number in the thread and gave them a call. I explained what I wanted to do and the 1st guy I talked to said I would have been eligible but they changed the program. He said he would try to get my date moved up. When he got back on the line I was informed in no uncertain terms, that they were no longer allowed to change an upgrade date for any reason. The only way to get an upgrade would be me to pay full price or wait until july. I am freaking pissed as I was supposed to be eligible for an upgrade after a year. They changed the rules in the middle of my contact now I have to wait. There is nothing stopping them from changing it again before july and screwing me again.

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Paul627g

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Same here Keith.... Somehow my 1 year early $75 discount just "poof" disappeared that I was supposed to get back a month or so ago...

Welcome to big business and your favorite carrier "insert name here" (can by any carrier they all pull similar garbage)
 

kevincwelch

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I think I'm switching to the NS4G...

As per keithvetter, I completely agree that you should never upgrade unless you have a specific reason to do so. I think this is part of the "planned obsolescence" built into devices -- more complex software...suddenly you need more hard drive space...more RAM...bam...new computer.

I got my phone for free and my work pays for the service, so I have no investment in the phone. I've had an issue with the phone from day one, and I know I don't have a defective phone or a defective battery. On Eclair and Froyo, battery life was very subpar and barely got a day out of it when it was barely idle and polling email every 30 minutes.

The developers were a godsend, specifically ACS which breathed new life into the phone. But still the battery issue, the rotation lag, the sprint bloatware, touchwiz, GPS issues, 4g connection, Froyo updTe disaster. Now I'm using Simply AOSP, and for me this is the best it's going to be...no crashes, but poor battery life.

The NS4G I see as nothing but Android at least with defined upgrade pathways. I don't use the keyboard anymore, and the dev community is good for the nexus. I'll have to pay for this phone, so my choice is an important one. In another year I'll be eligible for upgrade, and my work will cover that one...hopefully the galaxy nexus on LTE for Sprint.
 

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