Cant Pull Trigger on Nexus - Convince Me!

[KneeDragr]

I cant seem to pull the trigger on a Galaxy Nexus purchase, I need to either be convinced to do it or be convinced the phone is not for me.

My background - have a Samsung Fascinate, no real issues with it since recently restoring the stock image ( for some reason before that it was acting very odd - blinking buttons, extreme lag ). When it was acting up I was anxiously waiting the GN but by the time it came out I had already reverted and it wasnt as necessary.

I am an amateur developer, nothing for sale yet, been playing around with android apps in my spare time, especially GLES since thats related to my profession. But I develop in Linux and I understand its not easy to connect the GN to a Linux box due to the storage/mounting protocol?

I manually turn things on/off like Wifi, data, GPS when I need them. I get massive battery life out of my phone this way. For instance, I am at 49% after 4 days and 12 hours on my current charge, and that includes letting my daughter watch Nemo for 30 minutes on the phone yesterday. I realize the GN will not give me anywhere near this amount of battery so that concerns me.

Also the reception problems concern me. I live in an area with excellent VZW and LTE coverage, so the only way I could have problems is if the phone has some problem. I dont want a phone that I cant use as a phone obviously.

I never had a screen protector on my Fascinate, and have 1 fine scratch after a year and a half. The soft screen of the GN concerns me, and the fact that there is no consensus on a 'best' dry protector. Ive tried applying the wet ones and never had any luck. So that bothers me.

Also, the phone is quite massive. The Fascinate is not small, but the GN is clearly bigger.

Ive been into the VZW store about a half dozen times to look at the GN and never leave with it due to these concerns. My wife is of no help, she could care less about phones and such.

So what do you 'experts' think? Will I be disappointed?

 

[KneeDragr]

BTW - a little background on developing and why it might be an issue. There are 2 ways you can put an android app on your phone from linux. One is you simply connect the phone, its automatically detected, and when you launch your app from eclipse it literally copies it to your phone and launches it. If you dont have your phone connected it launches the 'best' emulator you have setup. The other way is to copy the finished .apk file over and install it on the phone. Its usefull to have both methods available.

From my understanding, you cannot copy files to a GN from Linux, only windows, but you can launch programs from eclipse ( with some trickery because the phone wont just automatically 'work' when you plug it in ).

 

[TabGuy]

It's a personal decision. I learned long ago never to try to convince someone about personal decisions. That backfires. When people ask to be convinced it usually means they want to be able to blame someone if they don't like the decision. Look at the pros and cons and if you aren't convinced then move on.

 

[KneeDragr]

It's a personal decision. I learned long ago never to try to convince someone about personal decisions. That backfires. When people ask to be convinced it usually means they want to be able to blame someone if they don't like the decision. Look at the pros and cons and if you aren't convinced then move on.

Hmm, good point.

I guess the pros were greater than the cons when my Fascinate was not working well, but now that everything is good with it, that's not the case any more.

 

[Holsum]

dont do it. Sansumg galaxy SIII is being announced at MWC in Feb. The phone will have double the specs of this phone. I always tell everyone. Once jan 10 hits and CES starts DONT BUY last years phones. They double in specs for the same price.

 

[twindragons187]

I know in windows, it will work if you make a folder. Then it will allow you to move files from the computer to the gn. Not sure with Linux. I have unbuntu dual booted so I'll try it when I get home. I have no problem getting 12+ hrs from my gn. I'm also in a 3g only area. Also, if ur a dev, u will have no problem finding or making rom or kernel to make battery life easier. Also I believe the extended bat is half off from Verizon. U go from 1850mah to 2100mah.

 

[radgatt]

dont do it. Sansumg galaxy SIII is being announced at MWC in Feb. The phone will have double the specs of this phone. I always tell everyone. Once jan 10 hits and CES starts DONT BUY last years phones. They double in specs for the same price.

How long will it before the siii is out in the us?

 

[VideoEngineerAJS]

If you have excellent VZW and LTE coverage at your house then you will be fine. I don't get LTE that often in my house yet it's still the best actual phone that I've ever had. I've dropped one call since buying the phone on launch day and the place it was dropped was the same place everyone drops calls.

 

[VideoEngineerAJS]

How long will it before the siii is out in the us?

Look at the SII timeline. It will probably follow that pretty closely. It may even be a little more of a delay though since the Exynos processor doesn't play nice with LTE. That's why the AT&T Galaxy Note is different than the overseas one.

 

[disasterinc]

I cant seem to pull the trigger on a Galaxy Nexus purchase, I need to either be convinced to do it or be convinced the phone is not for me.
:
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So what do you 'experts' think? Will I be disappointed?

Sounds like me before I got my nexus. The best way to convince yourself, up or down, is to try it out. The 14-day test drive is a nice security blanket. If you don't like it return it. A $35 restock fee is cheaper than a 2 year contract for a phone that doesn't meet your needs.

 

[HES]

Sounds like me before I got my nexus. The best way to convince yourself, up or down, is to try it out. The 14-day test drive is a nice security blanket. If you don't like it return it. A $35 restock fee is cheaper than a 2 year contract for a phone that doesn't meet your needs.

Take it for a test drive is the best answer.

For my personal perspective, this device over all is bloody fantastic. I love nearly everything about it except for the radio reception. I managed to address most everything else that concerned me with the phone. My needs though are a bit off the beaten path. I travel, a lot. Many times in to VERY rural areas. I need the phone with the best possible radio. Unfortunately the GN is not meeting my needs in this one critical (to me) area. So I am returning it. I would wait for the 4.0.3 release, there have been reports of voice behaving better. But I have not been able to determine if actual signal reception has improved. Other than that this is a fantastic device and I will miss it. For more mainstream users I would recommend this phone.

 

[thebignewt]

I say don't get one. You'll never get close to the battery life, you are already hesitant about the size, and you do fine with what you have. The real differentiating feature of this phone (other than LTE of course), is the bigger better screen, and the ICS operating system. If those 2 things don't excite you then wait or stay put. I really like mine, but I don't get 4G, I don't care about the battery life, and I get the same reception I got with my Incredible. It's pretty hard to assess the ICS in a store setting, that takes some time. But the size thing you can size up there, and the battery thing you already know the answer to.

 

[Johnbibbs]

dont do it. Sansumg galaxy SIII is being announced at MWC in Feb. The phone will have double the specs of this phone. I always tell everyone. Once jan 10 hits and CES starts DONT BUY last years phones. They double in specs for the same price.

But it still won't be a Nexus and ultimately that is what I want. It comes down to whether or not you want the newest hardware or the newest software. I am a software guy personally.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

 

[VideoEngineerAJS]

But it still won't be a Nexus and ultimately that is what I want. It comes down to whether or not you want the newest hardware or the newest software. I am a software guy personally.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

True and it's the software that you see everyday. Well made software can make even older hardware run better. I mean heck my old laptop actually runs better with Windows 7 than it ever did with Vista even though the computer came with Vista pre-installed.

That's not to say better software will make the hardware better, but when you have better software, better hardware isn't always needed. Obviously if you want your phone to basically be a portable gaming console, go for the quad cores, but if not, dual core is fine with stock ICS.

 

[KneeDragr]

Thanks for the input so far.

A couple of additional thoughts upon reading the responses - a big attraction of this phone for me is ICS and timely updates. Ive been pretty frustrated with my Samsung Fascinate getting Froyo over a year after it was up and running on a Galaxy S reference phone. And the fact that they are on Gingerbread now and I will never get that update.

Plus I want to tinker around with the device and OS, get some code running on it. Ive noticed that some stuff I had working with 2.2 emulator device does not build against 4.0 so there are things I am going to have to learn, and its much more interesting to do this with a real machine than simply an emulator.

As far as waiting for the S3 - well its really an unknown and it may not even come to Verizon ( the S2 didnt ). Even if it does, Im guessing mid to late summer timeframe. I would rather make the decision to purchase a S3 if I decide against the GN, not as a factor in the GN decision.

 

[yosteve]

Go to the vzw website, there is like 3 hours of video about the phone. That'll help you get a better feel for the phone.

 

[kk4df]

I absolutely love my SGN, coming from a DroidX. Over the last few weeks, I've become a flashaholic, testing out many of the ROMs and mods. Developers are working hard and fast on this new phone, so maybe you better join the fun.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

 

[p08757]

As long as your current phone is not giving you problems, don't switch.

 

[Newport Viper]

It's a personal decision. I learned long ago never to try to convince someone about personal decisions. That backfires. When people ask to be convinced it usually means they want to be able to blame someone if they don't like the decision. Look at the pros and cons and if you aren't convinced then move on.

One of the most intelligent posts I have ever seen on any forum...

By the way a friend returned the GN. He's more like a girl anyways so, he went with a iphone 4s. Sheep.....

He couldn't stand not to be part of the herd.

 

[VideoEngineerAJS]

One of the most intelligent posts I have ever seen on any forum...

By the way a friend returned the GN. He's more like a girl anyways so, he went with a iphone 4s. Sheep.....

He couldn't stand not to be part of the herd.

I can't believe why anyone on Verizon would not want an LTE phone right now. I mean if you don't like the Galaxy Nexus, fine, then get a Razr or a Rezound.