Ditching Cupertino Kool-Aid for some Jelly Beans

[Montigusto]

Hi All,

Just signed up in anticipation of my next phone...

My story: I camped out for the iPhone 4, sitting outside for about 9 hours until I finally got my iPhone 4 by something like 3am. I had never done anything like that before (probably never will again, haha) but I only had an original iPhone so the iPhone 4 upgrade was a big deal to me. So yeah, you could say that I am an Apple fan!

Fast forward to now and I've been off contract for a while, now looking for a new contract and new phone. I hadn't even bothered to watch the iPhone 5 event video (usually I do watch all Apple event videos), but for some reason the iPhone 5 just didn't take my fancy. I guess I just thought "yeah yeah, more of the same..." A few days ago I was in a shop, about 2 steps away from signing up on a 2 year contract with an iPhone 5. Now that I look back I'm glad they didn't have black 64gb in stock, so I walked away and was going to get a call when they had stock in.

Then I got to thinking about the alternatives, I have a couple of friends who switched from iPhone to Galaxy 3's and they really like it. One thing that really started to get to me lately is how small the iPhone screen is. And for the little extra height they added to the iPhone 5, it's just not worth another 2 year contract for me. Then I found out about the Note 2, and it just happens to have enough of the features I want:

• BIG screen!
• NFC (I have been looking for a way to downsize my wallet)
• Wireless charging (with some light hacking from the looks of things)
• Pressure sensitive stylus (I have a Wacom tablet at home and had been thinking about a pressure sensitive stylus for iPad)
• Customizable and slick interface (Android)

I went back to the shop yesterday and they were out of stock on the Note 2, expecting some on December 26th. I hope they get them, because I'm starting to get a bit keen for it! I will mostly be using it for photo editing (yes, I'm part of the Instagram crowd) and maybe occasional sketching & drawing, but I can easily see the large screen being good for videos etc. To be honest I probably never really pushed the capabilities of my iPhone 4 (I probably didn't bother too much because I knew the screen was too small!) but now I am looking forward to using RDP on the off chance I need to do some work stuff when I'm out of the office, and it will be handy to be able to access my iMac when I'm away on holidays or something. Also going to try out Plex, should be interesting. And of course then there's all the tinkering and customization that can be done, which even though I'm an "Apple user" I am not scared of a bit of tweaking. I have been using OS X since launch and was into theming in those early days, and also had Linux on my 3rd gen iPod way back when, as well as having dual-boot Gentoo install when I had a PowerMac G5. So maybe I'm not a "typical" Apple user after all...

Some other friends have warned me off Android saying that it doesn't have the integration and whole ecosystem like Apple does, and that's true I suppose. But I've done my research and there's nothing really that will stop me from doing exactly what I want on Android. I guess having a big screen and newer technology is more important to me than the Apple ecosystem.

Anyway, that's my story. See ya 'round the forums!

 

[TechTinker]

Hope the wait to get your slice of heaven is short!
I hope you enjoy Android. I'm still not a huge fan on Touchwiz (Samsungs UI), but the Note II is a great device, you'll love it!

 

[sr2012]

There are a lot of misconceptions I switched to Android as well recently. You'll like it.

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[jpent]

I use all macs in many biz, and the real ecosystem really is tied to Google and not Apple. That's at least for me as we use Google Apps for corporate email.

Like you, that tiny screen is insane. My wife has the iPhone 5, and will never left me push an android on her. Bought her a sprint gs2 as a gift, and she hatred it.

Glad that Samsung has such great choices. I always felt that apple made a huge mistake not doing an htc evo 4g sized phone three years ago. I left apple iphones three years ago and have never looked back.

My wife is happy she has iphone and I have my android gs3. ... so I dont jailbreak her phone and load some of those cydia apps!

Good luck... love the Verizon gs3.. will likely one day do the note 3. Son gets galaxy tab 2 in the morning. Great tablet for a first grader, right!



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[Montigusto]

The more I look into it, there sure seems to be a lot of people not satisfied with the iPhone 5 now switching to Android...

The Note 2 does seem to be very popular down here (Australia), I'll be at the shop as soon as they open!

I'll try out Touchwiz for a little bit, but I'm completely open to the idea of a bit of tweaking. Already pretty much decided that I will root for Titanium Backup and Cerberus. Gradually learning all the tips & tricks, ins & outs.

 

[Woodsy]

Time to drink the wonderfully tasty Galaxy Note 2 Kool-aid. Welcome to the family!

Sent from the greatest phone in the world, The Galaxy Note 2 on Verizon.

 

[badbrad17]

I jumped on the Nexus 4 bandwagon to be free of contracts etc. But the Note 2 is amazing if you can handle the larger size. If there was any doubt about the power and flexibility of the Note 2 then this video should put any doubt to rest.

Can I say "mind blowing"?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nh2NSLgaII&feature=youtube_gdata_player
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[Montigusto]

Well just picked up the Note 2 this morning... I thought the shop was just out of stock on Monday when I checked, but today (Boxing Day) is actually the official launch for Telstra in Australia. Months after the rest of the world has had it. Go figure!

Anyway, first impressions - wow. It's going to take a bit of getting used to & tweaking it to my liking, but I have no regrets at all. I just went and did a bit of grocery shopping, whipped out the Note to check my shopping list and it felt kinda awkward. Haha But I'm sure it will just take some getting used to the size as well.

Those videos that ColdFustion did were a big part of what helped to sell me on the features of the Note 2. It seems like that's one of the problems for Android phones, most people who aren't in the know (mainly iPhone users I guess) just don't have a clue about Android or the hardware. At least I didn't until I spent the time to learn about it.

 

[badbrad17]

Well just picked up the Note 2 this morning... I thought the shop was just out of stock on Monday when I checked, but today (Boxing Day) is actually the official launch for Telstra in Australia. Months after the rest of the world has had it. Go figure!

Anyway, first impressions - wow. It's going to take a bit of getting used to & tweaking it to my liking, but I have no regrets at all. I just went and did a bit of grocery shopping, whipped out the Note to check my shopping list and it felt kinda awkward. Haha But I'm sure it will just take some getting used to the size as well.

Those videos that ColdFustion did were a big part of what helped to sell me on the features of the Note 2. It seems like that's one of the problems for Android phones, most people who aren't in the know (mainly iPhone users I guess) just don't have a clue about Android or the hardware. At least I didn't until I spent the time to learn about it.

Have fun playing with it and learning everything it can do. Btw its still Christmas in Vancouver. Lol.

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[Montigusto]

Cheers badbrad17, I got a bit keen and decided to root it this afternoon. Well that ended in a mad flurry of researching and trying to learn as much about Odin as possible, worried that I had stalled it while flashing the Note, but turned out that I was at no risk at all (had tried to start Odin before COM was established!)

Nothing like a baptism of fire. Haha
Maybe I'll just chill for a bit now and play some games on it or something.

 

[_X_]

Love the title of the thread.

Glad you're enjoying the Note II, one of android users' greatest dilemmas is what phone to get, there are so many good choices.

I also choose the Note ii and I'm loving it it has tons of great features. I'm kind of over ROMing and rooting my phones, but I like the fact that it's an option it's ever there's a need. ...Also it's pretty cool you've gone and done that on day one of your new android phone.

The one customisation I did make however was to change the launcher,I hate touch wiz and opted for my favorite, ADW.Launcher.


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[badbrad17]

Love the title of the thread.

Glad you're enjoying the Note II, one of android users' greatest dilemmas is what phone to get, there are so many good choices.

I also choose the Note ii and I'm loving it it has tons of great features. I'm kind of over ROMing and rooting my phones, but I like the fact that it's an option it's ever there's a need. ...Also it's pretty cool you've gone and done that on day one of your new android phone.

The one customisation I did make however was to change the launcher,I hate touch wiz and opted for my favorite, ADW.Launcher.


Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk 2

Just a question on ADW. Have you tried Nova? If so what is better on adw? I have used Go Launcher for years and recently switched to Nova. I really like it but wondered if you have tried both?

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[Dapper37]

Just reading for now, Im here as a BlackBerry user looking out for what the competition has to offer. I guess theres no doubt I'll wait an see how the Z10 does before I get my next upgrade. If not a BBZ10, the Note2 is looking good.
Ahem; Not that hard getting the first post off my chest cheers!

 

[badbrad17]

Welcome. Drink it all in. Fruit phones are being taken over by robots. :thumbup:

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[_X_]

Just a question on ADW. Have you tried Nova? If so what is better on adw? I have used Go Launcher for years and recently switched to Nova. I really like it but wondered if you have tried both?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

In the past the differences where major, but now both Launchers have been upgraded to include common fearures.

ADW Launcher had some features that made it a must for me. For instance launching an app with a gesture. I use the up gesture to launch 'Google Gestures', I know that sounds redundant, but using Gestures to find contacts, apps, and stuff is so much faster than launching the required app.

I also like the fact that i can resize widgets even after they are already on your desktop.

The last point is that ADW Launcher looks nicer.

I own both apps but I don't use Nova

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[sr2012]

Just reading for now, Im here as a BlackBerry user looking out for what the competition has to offer. I guess theres no doubt I'll wait an see how the Z10 does before I get my next upgrade. If not a BBZ10, the Note2 is looking good.
Ahem; Not that hard getting the first post off my chest cheers!

I think it was harder to admit you're waiting for the or any BB ... Seriously though, I'm not confident about BB "coming back".

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[_X_]

Just reading for now, Im here as a BlackBerry user looking out for what the competition has to offer. I guess theres no doubt I'll wait an see how the Z10 does before I get my next upgrade. If not a BBZ10, the Note2 is looking good.
Ahem; Not that hard getting the first post off my chest cheers!

Welcome to the forum. I came from a blackberry myself and did I love that device. I still miss some important features in BB that don't exist in iPhone nor Android.

Considering that BB10 is a new os and a complete overhaul I'd advise you to sit this one out and let them workout the kinks. At this point anybody that buys for a BB10 device is paying to be a beta user, just like I was a for their BB storm.


You mentioned you're interested in the Note that the device I'm currently rocking and I love it. I'd encourage you to make the jump, you might have withdrawal symptoms but you won't regret the choice.



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[badbrad17]

In the past the differences where major, but now both Launchers have been upgraded to include common fearures.

ADW Launcher had some features that made it a must for me. For instance launching an app with a gesture. I use the up gesture to launch 'Google Gestures', I know that sounds redundant, but using Gestures to find contacts, apps, and stuff is so much faster than launching the required app.

I also like the fact that i can resize widgets even after they are already on your desktop.

The last point is that ADW Launcher looks nicer.

I own both apps but I don't use Nova

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Thanks. I will definitely check it out.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

 

[Montigusto]

Hahaha fruit phones being taken over...
Although I don't know if we can really comment - using various dessert and candy OSes. Isn't fruit healthier?

Just reading for now, Im here as a BlackBerry user looking out for what the competition has to offer. I guess theres no doubt I'll wait an see how the Z10 does before I get my next upgrade. If not a BBZ10, the Note2 is looking good.
Ahem; Not that hard getting the first post off my chest cheers!

First post, welcome!

I don't know much about BB, but my theory for tech items is that you should always buy the top end models if you can, and you should just buy it and use it, otherwise you just waste time waiting. So depending on when the BBZ10 is coming out, you could buy a Note 2, try it out and see if you like it. See what the BBZ10 looks like when it's released and you can always sell the Note 2 if you want.

On the subject of launchers, I just found out about dock gestures yesterday (for example having the phone icon set to open the Phone app when pressed, but opening contacts if you slide from the Phone icon if I understand correctly) - awesome stuff! Haven't used gestures yet though, dipped my toes in with the Nova Launcher free version. I noticed the gestures & buttons settings available in Nova Prime - not sure if that means you can set custom dock gestures? I just checked out a few others on Play Store, Holo Launcher specifically lists dock gestures (which is what I want rather than any type of pinch of swipe gestures on the home screen main area). Also if I want dock gestures from the lock screen, that will mean I need a 3rd part lock screen as well? Or can the settings from the launcher somehow filter through?

The next question I have is about email apps - I have a few different work emails (POP) and I'm looking for a good app that will let me setup individual signatures and be able to easily switch which email address I'm sending from. It looks like Aqua Mail rates highly? With Tasker integration as well which I'm going to look into for setting up some notification actions similar to iOS.

 

[sr2012]

You should definitely give Aqua Mail a shot.

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