Need some advise - should I download the update?

[meangreenstebo]

I just picked up a brand new Nexus S 4G from Best Buy and luckily the update was not yet installed. For those of you that updated and lost your free WIFI tethering, was the update worth it? I am trying to weigh the pros and cons of the update. Is the signal quality significantly better? Does it fix anything else? Honestly, I am not sure if I will use the tethering that much but I like the option of using it if I need to... what would you all suggest? Is there any way to turn off the notification because it has prompted me to update the phone twice in the two hours that I have been fiddling around with it.

By the way, if you have an EVO and are looking to make the switch, Best Buy gave me $138 bucks for mine (on a gift card) and I got the phone for a $99 dollar upgrade. I actually have $30 bucks more to spend on the gift card. Their extended battery was $70 freaking dollars so I think I will see if the stock battery will work for me before buying one online. Any other great accessories that I need? Does the phone need a screen shield or is it made with gorilla glass? Any help would be appreciated on these questions! Sorry there are so many, new phone and I am really excited!

 

[meangreenstebo]

Meant to put "advice" not advise

 

[kuoirad]

To the best of my knowledge, it is *not* Gorilla Glass. I put an InvisibleShield on mine. Picked it up the day Best Buy had it for free if you were upgrade eligible.

Can't speak to the whether or not to upgrade question - I don't remember if it was upgraded already or not, but I let it get upgraded.

 

[chud]

It's glass but not Gorilla Glass.

If you don't accept this update, you won't be able to accept any future updates, like Ice Cream Sandwich.

 

[meangreenstebo]

Anyone know how to turn off the notification while I decide? It is popping up about every 5 minutes. Also, I just read that certain apps do not work with 2.3.5 yet (i.e. HBO Go) so that is another reason for holding off on the hitting "update now" for me... I just don't want to accidentally hit the button from getting constant notifications.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

Honestly, if tethering is important to you either pay for it or root the phone. The free service didn't allow you to use the wimax data to tether which for me was a real bummer. Not sure if the notifications stop after a specific period of time but like the previous poster said you wont be able to get future software releases. You will definitely want to try ICS. As far as I know the only other change was to the baseband (radio) but I think its pretty important seeing it is a cellphone and all

Rooting would allow you to install full featured tethering programs that will allow you to pass 4g. Rooting also gives you basically any option you could ever want on a smartphone depending on how far down the rabbit hole you want to go. This option is obviously free and depending on your computer literacy the risk is low, the difficulty is low and and the benefit is high. I recently rooted my NS4G (first Android device) and it was one of the best things I've ever done on a smartphone, fun and educational. The great thing is you can still have a stock experience or you can mod the crap out of your phone and everything in between.

If you don't want to root you can always pay for the service when you need it. You will be able to tether 4g and no additional work for you. If you use it just once in a while the cost won't be too bad

 

[meangreenstebo]

Honestly, if tethering is important to you either pay for it or root the phone. The free service didn't allow you to use the wimax data to tether which for me was a real bummer. Not sure if the notifications stop after a specific period of time but like the previous poster said you wont be able to get future software releases. You will definitely want to try ICS. As far as I know the only other change was to the baseband (radio) but I think its pretty important seeing it is a cellphone and all

Rooting would allow you to install full featured tethering programs that will allow you to pass 4g. Rooting also gives you basically any option you could ever want on a smartphone depending on how far down the rabbit hole you want to go. This option is obviously free and depending on your computer literacy the risk is low, the difficulty is low and and the benefit is high. I recently rooted my NS4G (first Android device) and it was one of the best things I've ever done on a smartphone, fun and educational. The great thing is you can still have a stock experience or you can mod the crap out of your phone and everything in between.

If you don't want to root you can always pay for the service when you need it. You will be able to tether 4g and no additional work for you. If you use it just once in a while the cost won't be too bad

Great points.. I had my EVO for over a year and only used tethering a couple of times. This might sound silly, but I am more apt to not update simply because of the incapability issues (i.e. HBO Go).

Rooting is pretty intimidating to me. I am probably making a mountain out of a molehill but I have never been able to feel confident about it. So far, I LOVE this phone and the stock Android experience is what brought me to it. It's simplicity is everything that Android with overlays is missing. I will probably take the update this weekend - just wanted to try it out for awhile without it. And you are right - I can always activate the tethering if I need it for a trip or something and turn it off when I get home; from what I understand - that is a prorated amount.

I think it is silly that we have to even ponder this type of thing. I am not a big data user. I use Netlfix and Pandora on my Wifi at home and rarely use data for anything other than surfing the internet. I would actually rather have Sprint give me a data cap and allow me to use tether than have unlimited data that is limited to the phone.

Edit - I went ahead and did the update. The notifications were driving me crazy. I am on 2.3.5 now - thanks for the comments. Maybe I will get around to rooting this thing if needed later on - for now I am just going to enjoy it

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

You too man. Hopefully those apps get updated shortly. I know I love the HBO go app myself. And don't get me started on the carriers pricing policies and tethering. Sprint is definitely the lesser of 4 evils. Though I hear TMo isn't bad but we know how that
story will go.

Oh and I wanted to add that I absolutely love this phone. I've used a lot of smartphones, most recently the iPhone 4. While I loved the iPhone there are a lot of things I like better with this phone. I also had the Evo 3D for a few weeks and the Nexus kills it in almost every single way. Everyone loves talking about that second core when there is no software in the mobile space that uses two cores. And if ICS indeed does force parallel processing, by the time non-nexus phones get the update the new Nexus will be coming
out (and im not talking about the Prime!) Having a Google sourced phone is such a
comforting thing

 

[meangreenstebo]

Appreciate the comments. I agree and am loving the phone. I even got Netflix to play over a very weak 3G signal in my house and my EVO could never do that, ever. Possibly because everything runs leaner on this phone...

One complaint but maybe I just need a setting changed - Is there any way to set up the phone to light up or something when a text comes in? I don't care about a blinking notification light, just when the text initially comes in - I get a faint beep and that is it. Seems like I could miss a text pretty easily with the phone...

 

[kuoirad]

One complaint but maybe I just need a setting changed - Is there any way to set up the phone to light up or something when a text comes in? I don't care about a blinking notification light, just when the text initially comes in - I get a faint beep and that is it. Seems like I could miss a text pretty easily with the phone...

Two options - go grab a copy of NoLED or root the phone, put a BLN-capable kernel in and run BLN Control.

 

[Jimmy Chitwood]

No problem. There is an app in the Market called BLN. It uses your capacitive buttons to light up for notiifications. Same issue as tethering though, need to be rooted. Sucks, I know.

 

[igotsanevo4g]

Honestly, if tethering is important to you either pay for it or root the phone. The free service didn't allow you to use the wimax data to tether which for me was a real bummer. Not sure if the notifications stop after a specific period of time but like the previous poster said you wont be able to get future software releases. You will definitely want to try ICS. As far as I know the only other change was to the baseband (radio) but I think its pretty important seeing it is a cellphone and all

Rooting would allow you to install full featured tethering programs that will allow you to pass 4g. Rooting also gives you basically any option you could ever want on a smartphone depending on how far down the rabbit hole you want to go. This option is obviously free and depending on your computer literacy the risk is low, the difficulty is low and and the benefit is high. I recently rooted my NS4G (first Android device) and it was one of the best things I've ever done on a smartphone, fun and educational. The great thing is you can still have a stock experience or you can mod the crap out of your phone and everything in between.

If you don't want to root you can always pay for the service when you need it. You will be able to tether 4g and no additional work for you. If you use it just once in a while the cost won't be too bad

Very good post, and very well said. Thanks for that, great advice to all.

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk

 

[Polish Prince]

I keep my Nexus S in my shirt pocket along with my pen which is made from 2 brass rifle shells. Been carrying like this since the beginning & the screen is pristine & scratch free. I am very "anti screen protector". JMHO.

Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk. Round stinka lardum bardle doo.

 

[enik]

I think its worth it because it fixed a lot of issues for me.

Sent from my A70S using Tapatalk

 

[meangreenstebo]

Two options - go grab a copy of NoLED or root the phone, put a BLN-capable kernel in and run BLN Control.

I took your advice and got NoLED for free from the market... will have to send those guys a donation. Works perfect and no root. Yet...

The only thing, and its a small complaint ...but my only complaint with this phone after 2 days is the lack of camera zoom. The battery life is amazing on this sucker and I would pit this phone up against ANY phone....including the iPhone. Lack of zoom, even a fake digital zoom...is the only disappointment. Vignette is not a suitable fix for that either, I like pinch to zoom.