Just Ordered my Photon

[dorelse]

Well, I've just gone & done it. Ordered my Photon from Sprint!

I looked at the Galaxy S II Epic Touch 4G (what was Sprint thinking with that name?), and decided that I didn't like the lower resolution, but larger screen. Felt to me like I was reading the old Readers Digest - Large Print Ed. at Grandma's house...but its definitely a great device as well.

And with Samsung's record for device updates, I felt this was the best choice...made even easier now that Google owns Moto. Love the kickstand and the size is just right.

Seems like the last couple of updates have really stabilized the phone, so I'm hoping to have a smooth transition from my Palm Treo Pro...its been a flawless device for me for 2 years now...put on Spb Shell and never looked back. (Honestly, great device.) I've also briefly had the Pre & Pixi in between those 2 years as well.

I've been reading up and looks like SBP Shell seems to kill battery life on the phone, so I probably won't put that on right away.

Anything else I need to know? I've read every thread over the last couple of days, so I'm about as familiar with the device as I think I can be.

TIA!

 

[JPD]

Hopefully you bought it from Best Buy... It's only $99 with a 2 year upgrade... I think it's a great phone. I had the Sleep of Death/Random Power Down but they replaced it at Best Buy yesterday and I've had zero problems since. The call quality and signal reception (IMO) are incredible. I hope you like it...

 

[LancerzRalliart]

All I can say is you got a awesome device. Just do the system updates when you get it and everything should be golden. I haven't experienced any problems with mine since I've had it. It's easily the best phone I've ever owned. Good choice.

 

[dorelse]

Hopefully you bought it from Best Buy... It's only $99 with a 2 year upgrade... I think it's a great phone. I had the Sleep of Death/Random Power Down but they replaced it at Best Buy yesterday and I've had zero problems since. The call quality and signal reception (IMO) are incredible. I hope you like it...

I did not order through Best Buy, and I knew about the lower price. I haven't had good experiences with Best Buy in the past, and Sprint has treated me right...and that was worth the $100 to me.

 

[Photon4glover]

I did not order through Best Buy, and I knew about the lower price. I haven't had good experiences with Best Buy in the past, and Sprint has treated me right...and that was worth the $100 to me.

Got mine at bestbuy too

Sent from my MoPho on The Sprint Network

 

[JPD]

I did not order through Best Buy, and I knew about the lower price. I haven't had good experiences with Best Buy in the past, and Sprint has treated me right...and that was worth the $100 to me.

To each his own... This was my first experience with BB... I really hate going to the Sprint Store because is seems that no matter what time I go in I have to wait for 45 minutes to even talk to someone... insane... I was really please with BB - but I know that all stores are not created equally...

It's a great device...

 

[LancerzRalliart]

I have never purchased anything from the sprint store, always go to best buy. I do go into the sprint store to check out the new phones but that's about it. I think they hire people with no real knowledge of any phones or anything. I mean seriously, who hires those idiots lol. And I'll ask a simple question knowing that they won't know what the hell i'm talking about lol.

 

[dorelse]

I have never purchased anything from the sprint store, always go to best buy. I do go into the sprint store to check out the new phones but that's about it. I think they hire people with no real knowledge of any phones or anything. I mean seriously, who hires those idiots lol. And I'll ask a simple question knowing that they won't know what the hell i'm talking about lol.

Huh...well, I have had the exact opposite experiences. My Sprint corporate store can be extremely busy at times. I generally don't go at peak times though either. I'll go at say 10AM on a Tuesday, etc.

I found 1 or 2 guys at my Sprint store who generally know their stuff, and I always call to make sure I know when they're going to be working and then set up an appointment to work directly with them. Over the years, I've built up a nice relationship with 2 of them, and they've both bent over backwards to help.

As for Best Buy...I've been lied to on multiple occasions and I find the BB guys to not have a darn clue...(this is not related to cell phones btw).

I didn't really want this to be a Best Buy vs. Sprint store discussion (LOL)...only that I'm happily getting my Photon, and what else I needed to know about my new phone!

 

[Gator352]

Sprint store only for me too. I have found I get better service from sprint in general! I think they tend to help loyal customers better. Just my experience, yours may vary!

SENT FROM A BADAZZ MOPHO

I agree. Sprint corporate stores has always treated right. The 3rd party sprint stores....not so much.

 

[|-KGB-|CaptHowdy]

I have never purchased anything from the sprint store, always go to best buy. I do go into the sprint store to check out the new phones but that's about it. I think they hire people with no real knowledge of any phones or anything. I mean seriously, who hires those idiots lol. And I'll ask a simple question knowing that they won't know what the hell i'm talking about lol.

i take offense to that sir. i work at a coporate store and i like to think i know my ****. i know the phones and have rooted and unlocked bootloaders on multiple phones. Been flashing roms since wm5 days. I know the specs inside out. But yes some of the people have no idea what the hell they are talking about i agree lol

 

[willysp]

Well, I've just gone & done it. Ordered my Photon from Sprint!

I looked at the Galaxy S II Epic Touch 4G (what was Sprint thinking with that name?), and decided that I didn't like the lower resolution, but larger screen. Felt to me like I was reading the old Readers Digest - Large Print Ed. at Grandma's house...but its definitely a great device as well.

And with Samsung's record for device updates, I felt this was the best choice...made even easier now that Google owns Moto. Love the kickstand and the size is just right.

Seems like the last couple of updates have really stabilized the phone, so I'm hoping to have a smooth transition from my Palm Treo Pro...its been a flawless device for me for 2 years now...put on Spb Shell and never looked back. (Honestly, great device.) I've also briefly had the Pre & Pixi in between those 2 years as well.

I've been reading up and looks like SBP Shell seems to kill battery life on the phone, so I probably won't put that on right away.

Anything else I need to know? I've read every thread over the last couple of days, so I'm about as familiar with the device as I think I can be.

TIA!

A few random comments:
- The Seidio clear screen protector fits very nicely
- The Sprint case/holster is actually pretty nice if you want either
- This is the first smartphone where I think I'll just use the stock ROM
- If you want to root it, OCR at XDA is quite simple
- The way the Photon and Samsung give you a little logical 8GB SD card in memory is a real PITA - you can't move apps to a real physical SD card. But more new phones will operate that way and the Android community & developers will eventually sort it out
- Make sure you keep the Sprint SIM card - it's not just a space filler; it actually works overseas (though at ridiculous rates!)

Great phone.

 

[willysp]

Wow - how did this thread fall off the tracks WRT Sprint vs. Best Buy - start another thread, guys, where you can argue all you want about whose #### is biggest, Don't hijack this thread.

Oh, and I travel all the time across the US (and overseas) - the quality of people and stores depends very much on where such store is in the US - Don't generalize.

 

[dfve]

i take offense to that sir. i work at a coporate store and i like to think i know my ****. i know the phones and have rooted and unlocked bootloaders on multiple phones. Been flashing roms since wm5 days. I know the specs inside out. But yes some of the people have no idea what the hell they are talking about i agree lol

good call, the people i have met in the repair/stores has been pretty damn good, and they seem to care.,...same goes for calling sprint direct, the reps have for the most part been very supportive and helpfull....but as dad usta say " ya cant have everybody love ya"

 

[dorelse]

Ok, so it arrived last night, and I've been getting up to speed on it as quickly as possible. Couple of noob questions, after some reading, the Gallery app is the video player? Why isn't there an all encompassing media player (music, video, photos, etc) delivered with stock Android? But...I digress...remember I'm coming from a Treo Pro (WM 6.1).

So far, this thing is well built & has been stable as can be...only been a day...but if things continue, I'm really glad I picked the Photon.

I've installed a few apps:
Audio Manager - so I can have sound profiles change automatically
Battery Circle
and a couple games & movies.

I didn't realize (bonus time) that there was an FM radio built in...read the reviews, must have missed that...cool!

The thing I don't get is how this uses the SD card? On my son's Optimus S, I can just pick and app and tell it to move to the SD card...so how can I move apps to the SD card?

I'm just used to being asked where to install the app before it does it on WM 6.1, so what's the best way to migrate things to the SD card?

TIA!

 

[djmiked]

you can get an app called App 2 SD Pro and this will allow you to move "some" of the apps to the sd card. It will tell you which ones you can move.

 

[LancerzRalliart]

i take offense to that sir. i work at a coporate store and i like to think i know my ****. i know the phones and have rooted and unlocked bootloaders on multiple phones. Been flashing roms since wm5 days. I know the specs inside out. But yes some of the people have no idea what the hell they are talking about i agree lol

There's no need to take offense unless you work at a store in Atlanta, Ga. Obviously every store has different employees and I'm referring to the ones i've come across in Atlanta. And being that best buy is in the same strip mall I just choose to go there.

 

[JPD]

Why isn't there an all encompassing media player (music, video, photos, etc) delivered with stock Android?

TIA!

go to the Motorola website and get the Media Link Software for your computer (Mac or Windows). It syncs up your music and media files from iTunes or Windows Media on your home computer really easily...

You can also set it up so that it places all the media on your external card instead of the internal memory...

Just my opinion...

 

[dorelse]

go to the Motorola website and get the Media Link Software for your computer (Mac or Windows). It syncs up your music and media files from iTunes or Windows Media on your home computer really easily...

You can also set it up so that it places all the media on your external card instead of the internal memory...

Just my opinion...

Yep, I've got that and I'm using it, I didn't realize there was an option to choose the target...DUH...my bad...thanks for pointing that out!

That's exactly what I needed!

 

[Weirdo0815]

I got my Photon a few weeks ago, from an Epic. I used Launcher Pro for months on me Epic and loved it but just near the end of my time with that phone I started using Go Launcher EX. I enjoyed that new launcher so much that when I got my Photon, I moved to that after trying the stock launcher for a few days.