iPhone 5 user: A few questions about Note 2

[Mikhailov]

Iam seriously thinking of trying a Note 2. Can sell iPhone 5 on eBay to cover the cost, but weary to do this because of my blasted Apple loyalty and I'm a slave to the ecosystem. I have been researching, and I have a few questions about the Note 2 before considering :

Does AT&T still offer the 50GB of Dropbox?

How is the screen in daylight? One of the things I noticed about the S3 was that it was horrible in daylight. Will I see something similar with the Note?

Can I root the US AT&T phone? Can I get rid of the bloat ware somehow?

If I install a ROM that is closer to stock Android, how will that effect the S Pen? Are there any good roms for the Note 2?

Can I change the lock screen? I hate the Samsung water drop. I like the stock one that accesses the camera and Google now.

Can I remap the buttons so a long press activates google now, and a double tap of the home button activates the "task manager?"

Can I replace that stupid water drop sound when you tap things, or do you just shut it off?

Ok that was more than a few questions. Sorry. I am doing my research but those are questions I couldn't find an answer for.

 

[james27007]

Check out my "Cool things to do with your Note 2" thread: http://forums.androidcentral.com/sa...-note-2-can-do-make-your-friends-jealous.html

Does AT&T still offer the 50GB of Dropbox?
Nope and that was an AT&T choice not Samsung; but if you get a 64GB SDCard, that gives you ~75GB of room for stuff. (64 card and 10-14 on the phone. I don't know of an iPhone that has that

How is the screen in daylight? One of the things I noticed about the S3 was that it was horrible in daylight. Will I see something similar with the Note?
The screen on the Note 1 in daylight was ok, 7/10, but the Note 2 by far is a 10/10, I have not had any issues in direct sunlight


Can I root the US AT&T phone? Can I get rid of the bloat ware somehow?
Yes AND you do not have to root it to do that. You can hide most apps, and all of the bloatware can be disabled (it is like uninstalling it but without losing it 100%).

If I install a ROM that is closer to stock Android, how will that effect the S Pen? Are there any good roms for the Note 2?
The s-pen will stil work but you will lost the s-pen added functions, gesters and apps without a Touchwiz rom. If you want the "Vanillia Android" feeling, you can always install Apex or Nova launcher and have the look and feel of stock Android but still not need root and still keep all s-pen everything.

Can I change the lock screen? I hate the Samsung water drop. I like the stock one that accesses the camera and Google now.
There are apps and roms that can do that

Can I remap the buttons so a long press activates google now, and a double tap of the home button activates the "task manager?"
Yes, I use an app called Home2, I changed the double tap home to googe now voice search and home+back to task manager

Can I replace that stupid water drop sound when you tap things, or do you just shut it off?
This requires root but yes

And it is good, you are spending a lot of money and you need to make sure you are happy! By the way 5 of my coworkers switched from the iPhone4S to the S3 and love it and 3 switched from the iPhone5 to the Note2, they all said it took a week to get used to the size, but now they will never go back!.

 

[aggie]

Check out my "Cool things to do with your Note 2" thread: http://forums.androidcentral.com/sa...-note-2-can-do-make-your-friends-jealous.html


Can I change the lock screen? I hate the Samsung water drop. I like the stock one that accesses the camera and Google now.
There are apps and roms that can do that

Can I remap the buttons so a long press activates google now, and a double tap of the home button activates the "task manager?"
Yes, I use an app called Home2, I changed the double tap home to googe now voice search and home+back to task manager

Can I replace that stupid water drop sound when you tap things, or do you just shut it off?
This requires root but yes

+1 on most of your post however, you can get rid of the water sound without rooting. Settings/sound/system and uncheck screen lock sound and touch sounds. In order to use a different sound you probably would have to root however. But it can just be shut off as was asked in the last part of the question.

OP: As for lock screen, you can change the background by holding down on your home screen then go to set wallpaper and it gives you the option to change home screen, lock screen, or both. You cant get the exact lock screen shortcut like the nexus has without rooting and installing a different rom but you can just edit the lock screen shortcuts in the settings. I have the camera and google search in the lock screen dock which serves nearly the same purpose although not quite as gracefully.

Note 2 screen is quite good in daylight. Not quite as good as the iPhone 5, but I'd say it is above average. Different technologies obviously and an amoled is not going to ever fare as well as an IPS display. But it is not overly inferior by any means. Just make sure to have auto brightness on so that it will adjust when you are in sunlight and you don't have to go and turn the brightness up to read it.

As said above, 64 gb microsd is the way to go. Bought mine on Amazon for around 50 bucks. I have 25gb of dropbox that my camera automatically uploads to but I'd much rather have them on my microSD if I had to choose. There are so many free cloud options these days that a dropbox promotion should hardly be a deal breaker (in my opinion).

I sold my iPhone 5 64gb on craigslist for $875 last month while shipping times were still pretty high. Bought a international note 2 on craigslist for $600, bought the AT&T one for $650 plus tax and then flipped the international Note 2 for $650. Obviously I made a little money. Very rare it works out that way for me lol Not sure exactly how much iPhones are going for now but I'd say at the least you'd get $550-$650 which would cover most if not all of your cost to purchase the Note 2. Everytime I try to go back to the iPhone it doesn't take but a couple weeks and I come to my senses and go back to Android. Rarely have I taken a hit when trying to get rid of the iPhone. If you haven't been with Android before and are heavily invested in the Apple ecosystem as you said that is definitely something to consider. Most apps are available but obviously you have a considerable investment in apps, media, etc. Most major apps that are on the App Store are available on Google Play but that doesn't solve the issue of having to buy them twice.

 

[jdub1981]

I sold my iphone 5 32gb on ebay for $685 two weeks ago. Bought my att phone for 650 plus tax.

 

[Mikhailov]

I sold my iphone 5 32gb on ebay for $685 two weeks ago. Bought my att phone for 650 plus tax.

Thanks everyone for the advice. I have Apple Care + on my iPhone 5 so I'm hoping I can get more because of that. Hoping to at least get $750 (retail price of the 5) because of the AppleCare +

Haven't pulled the trigger on this yet but still seriously considering it.

 

[jdub1981]

Thanks everyone for the advice. I have Apple Care + on my iPhone 5 so I'm hoping I can get more because of that. Hoping to at least get $750 (retail price of the 5) because of the AppleCare +

Haven't pulled the trigger on this yet but still seriously considering it.

Iphone 5 is a fine phone. What motivated me was that it was my 3rd iphone. I previously had the 3g, 4 and then 5. The 4 and 5 were launch day phones. After a month with the iphone 5, I was bored with it. Same ol interface, newly designed phone. I researched top of the line android phones and the GN2 easily fit this category. I like that is more open than iphone. I like that it can download stuff just like my home pc. Things I don't like about are that some of my fav apps for iphone arent available for this phone, are have not been ported to jellybean.

 

[mrclowny]

I'm with above poster... Been using the iphone forever.. including the iphone 5.... switching to Note2 was the best decision I made! Love it and I'm never going back. =)

 

[UsedName]

I'm with above poster... Been using the iphone forever.. including the iphone 5.... switching to Note2 was the best decision I made! Love it and I'm never going back. =)

Same Here!
I'm a first time android user and this is so refreshing to have this phone.
Got board with the same'ol iPhone year after year.

 

[vr002sh]

there is an app in Google Play called easy phone tunes (actually owned by Samsung), it's free. you install it on your phone and on the desktop with your iTunes account. It will copy all the media and playlists from iTunes onto your SD card and now you have your music on the phone. You can also just mount the phone as a USB drive and copy the media to the SD card, both work just fine.

 

[sr2012]

Same Here!
I'm a first time android user and this is so refreshing to have this phone.
Got board with the same'ol iPhone year after year.

I am a little bored with iPhone, even iPhone 5. I played with a HTC One X(L?) today and it was very nice. I prefer that to S3.

 

[Mikhailov]

I am a little bored with iPhone, even iPhone 5. I played with a HTC One X(L?) today and it was very nice. I prefer that to S3.

I'm not bored per se...I would just like to have an Android something. I didn't like a lot of things about the S3, but the Note 2 and JB seemed to have fixed that.

Only thing I'm not sure of is if Google Now can work hands free in the car. Siri is still the best as far as that is concerned.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[illuxion]

Most has already been covered. I was less than overwhelmed when I upgraded my IP4s to IP5. I really wanted bigger, better, and supercharged, and didn't quite get what I expected. One of my friends from thailand was in town and I played with his note 2 for while and had to have one. I went on a hunt for a note 2 and finally got one in my hands on Friday. I gave my wife my 5, who had previously had my 4s relegated to her. I've only been implanted into the droidsphere for a few days, while having been the support tech for my son's driod phones I've never really got into it. Since my note 2 has been in my hands

Does AT&T still offer the 50GB of Dropbox?
No, but you can also buy a miscro USB to usb adapter fairly cheap and dump files to a thumb drive, or move files on and off of the phone wirelessly with kies. I have a 64g sandisk mobile ultra coupled with a 500gb seagate satellite which so far has given me everything I could hope for(oddly enough 1080p files play smoother on the Note2 than they do my ipad or the IP5)

How is the screen in daylight? One of the things I noticed about the S3 was that it was horrible in daylight. Will I see something similar with the Note?
Fantastic. It's not quite as bright as the IP5, but very close.

Can I root the US AT&T phone? Can I get rid of the bloat ware somehow?
yes you can root, but the great thing about jelly bean is you can disable apps without rooting

If I install a ROM that is closer to stock Android, how will that effect the S Pen? Are there any good roms for the Note 2?
as was said, you will lose quite a bit of functionality, as well as s-note which is one of the best things for the pen

Can I change the lock screen? I hate the Samsung water drop. I like the stock one that accesses the camera and Google now.
yes, plenty of apps for it.

Can I remap the buttons so a long press activates google now, and a double tap of the home button activates the "task manager?"
many many apps to remaps buttons and gestures

Can I replace that stupid water drop sound when you tap things, or do you just shut it off?
you can change it or turn it off

I'm not on one side of the fence for the other. I like my note 2, I like my Ipad, I even liked my IP5, it's whatever suits you at this time, as of now the Note2 is my new pocket pal.