[diesteldorf]

My apologies for being somewhat lazy, but I am not eligible for an upgrade for awhile and mainly hang around the VZW Nexus forums. I am doing some quick research for a friend.

Obviously, when VZW released the SG III, it was locked down tight, but it was much cheaper than paying full retail for the Developer's editon.
Is it correct now that developers have been able to Root the phone and Unlock the Bootloader, basically making the advantages of a Developer's edition moot?

2) Assuming the above is true, has a custom recovery image for the Verizon SGIII been released to easily revert back to stock?

3) Can the native hotspot feature be enabled via a 3rd party toggle like Extended controls, if he doesn't want to install a custom rom?
4) Has the developer community been pretty friendly at showing the SGIII some love?

[Paul627g]

Yes the original non developer version of the Verizon SGS 3 has been fully rooted and unlocked bootloader from those great developers

Returning to stock isn't a very big deal from my understanding. Like anything with rooting, if you prepare yourself well ahead of time by lots of research and question asking if need be you will have a good outcome.

Not sure about the hotspot feature, that I will let someone else answer.

Development community has really taken to the entire SGS 3 line... Verizon, Sprint, AT &T, T Mobile, US Cellular have all gotten very good love from the community.

[diesteldorf]

Thanks. That's what I was hoping for. I'd rather save the cash and get the native Verizon version and just root and unlock manually.

Honestly, as far as the hotspot feature is concerned, I could probably install a custom rom for him that would have those features enabled, but if the native hotspot feature can be used while on stock, it's one less thing to worry about.

Things could change too, since he's not eligible till the end of October and may wait until the beginning of December before making a decision. Last year, when I upgraded, Verizon allowed any phone purchased from around 12/1 to 12/25 to be returned until around 1/14. It meant I got about a month to fully evaluate my Nexus. He may want the same luxury if VZW does it again.

[Paul627g]

Your welcome and good luck in your decision down the road.

[Bbeelzebub]

You may be interested in knowing Samsung is selling the Developer Edition in 16 gb cheaper than Verizon is for full price right now.

Getting back to stock is as simple as opening Odin and flashing the stock rom. (I did it myself today because I wasn't feeling the latest update of the ROM I liked). As for wifi, if you root, you can flash a zip to use the stock hotspot or just use foxfi.

There are lots of ROMs for the phone, it's just a matter if one suits your tastes. If you're waiting til' December though, heck.... might as well bypass Samsung and go for the new HTC.

[Paul627g]

I could never see myself buying off contract at full price to get any device. No way I'm handing over 300, 400, 500 or more dollars

[DriveEuro]

There is no reason to buy the developer unlocked phone. You can unlock the boot loader on the Verizon S3 extremely easily. Its very easy to relock it too.

To lock/unlock you just need to be rooted. Then download the EZ-Unlock app from google play. Open it and just click unlock.

[NotJustAPhone]

It may not be important to you, but I believe the developer version sold by Samsung has only a 30 day warranty versus a 1 year warranty for the ones sold by Verizon.

Sent from my SGSIII

[diesteldorf]

It may not be important to you, but I believe the developer version sold by Samsung has only a 30 day warranty versus a 1 year warranty for the ones sold by Verizon.

Sent from my SGSIII

That's actually something I didn't know. Between the longer warranty, subsidized pricing, and now hacker friendliness,. thanks to the developers, it makes sense to just purchase through Verizon.

It is cool, though. When I was reading the forums at XDA when the GS III was released, people were royally pissed and many thought unlocking the bootloader would be a real b*tch, never happen, or not until the phone was considered obsolete....well didn't take too long

It'll be interesting to see what's released in late November/December. Honestly, if Samsung releases a new Nexus device VZW that has similar specs to the GS III, or the Note II that could change things entirely.

[creccaj1]

While I have spent money on off contract devices before, I would go along with what everyone here is saying and stick with getting the Verizon one. You can root/unlock your device within 10 minutes now and get yourself up and running very quick.

[tperry]

That's actually something I didn't know. Between the longer warranty, subsidized pricing, and now hacker friendliness,. thanks to the developers, it makes sense to just purchase through Verizon.

It is cool, though. When I was reading the forums at XDA when the GS III was released, people were royally pissed and many thought unlocking the bootloader would be a real b*tch, never happen, or not until the phone was considered obsolete....well didn't take too long

It'll be interesting to see what's released in late November/December. Honestly, if Samsung releases a new Nexus device VZW that has similar specs to the GS III, or the Note II that could change things entirely.

The only reason the boot loader is unlocked is because someone (apparently with Samsung) floated a copy of the unlocked one out and released it into the wild.
If it had not been for that the Devs would probably still be trying to crack it.

[paintdrinkingpete]

It may not be important to you, but I believe the developer version sold by Samsung has only a 30 day warranty versus a 1 year warranty for the ones sold by Verizon.

Sent from my SGSIII

That's actually something I didn't know. Between the longer warranty, subsidized pricing, and now hacker friendliness,. thanks to the developers, it makes sense to just purchase through Verizon.

It is cool, though. When I was reading the forums at XDA when the GS III was released, people were royally pissed and many thought unlocking the bootloader would be a real b*tch, never happen, or not until the phone was considered obsolete....well didn't take too long

It'll be interesting to see what's released in late November/December. Honestly, if Samsung releases a new Nexus device VZW that has similar specs to the GS III, or the Note II that could change things entirely.

For what it's worth, when you root your phone and unlock the bootloader, you've essentially voided that 1 year warranty. Of course, there are ways to return to stock so that no one is the wiser (unless you've really jacked up your phone!), but that's why the dev edition comes only at full retail and with no warranty...you've already assumed responsibility by buying a developer unit.

To answer the OP though, no, there really is no reason to buy the Dev edition now. Even if paying full retail, I'd rather at least have the chance at being able to return to stock for a warranty claim if needed!

I could never see myself buying off contract at full price to get any device. No way I'm handing over 300, 400, 500 or more dollars

I didn't mind buying my S3 at full retail at all...I get to keep unlimited data for now and can still upgrade at a discount price at any time I want (because I didn't have to burn my upgrade to get it). Considering it's the one device I use constantly every single day, doesn't seem like it's that much to have to pay, from my perspective.

[jlongjr27]

I didn't mind buying my S3 at full retail at all...I get to keep unlimited data for now and can still upgrade at a discount price at any time I want (because I didn't have to burn my upgrade to get it). Considering it's the one device I use constantly every single day, doesn't seem like it's that much to have to pay, from my perspective.

I was able to upgrade another line on my account and move the gs3 to my line and keep unlimited data. Rooted, unlocked and romed in less than a day.