Fresh Android meat...be gentle

[manicalchemist]

I've just made arrangements with AT&T to receive an HTC Inspire 4G between Monday and Thursday (hopefully soon). I'll have 30 days to evaluate it.
As a new comer, I can read all the online reviews, till I am blue in the face, but what want to read what actual Android users have to say.
The Pros/Cons, what to expect (coming from other phones) maintaining a smooth running Android, pet peeves, apps you suggest/do not suggest and why. I want you to bombarde me with you're knowledge. All the tips and tricks and work arounds....Feed my, ever so hungry, brain. Teach me your ways, so that when the 30 days is up, I won't ever want to pick up my Blackberry again, unless its to hold down paperwork.

 

[Sedrick]

I'm particularly interested in the battery life out of that 1230 mAh battery. I can't believe they shot themselves in the foot with a battery that small. I'd have this phone in a second if not for that.

 

[Sweet_n_Fierce]

The HTC Inspire is a great phone! It's been just as "loyal" to me as my blackberry bold 9700 was. When I got my inspire I read reviews about horrible battery life so when I purchased the phone I was prepared to have my battery be dead within 5 hours. However, the phone lasted a good amount of the day without having to recharge. Starting my day at around 7:45 AM and coming home at around 11PM. That's with heavy usage as well... meaning I would be texting consistently, a few 15-25 minute phone calls, checking facebook randomly throughout the day, and playing music and even playing a game for a bit before the phone finally got to 15%

However, AFTER the gingerbread update, my battery life only got better...I can now go a day and a morning before the phone finally is ready to die. That's with the same usage as posted above but also with me being able to watch netflix on my phone.

My settings on my phone are:
Screen brightness: about 35% if not a little more
Automatic syncing is turned off
screen shuts down after 30 sec. of inactivity.
I deleted task killer since it actually makes your phone battery worse. If I feel I need to reset I hold the top button and press reset but I rarely do that.

I've had some ugly drops with my inspire also and it's still perfectly running. This is my favorite phone I've had.

~Sovereign

 

[pazzo02]

If you're a tech junkie, and you've never used Android before, I would bet you'll never go back to your BB after 30 minutes.

One big thing to keep in mind, you will be infuriated by the battery life at first, but that will be because you're playing around with the thing almost nonstop. Far and away the biggest battery hog is the screen. After that, syncing. My number one tip (after trying successfully myself) is use the Gmail app if you can. Don't even set up the stock email app. If you don't use a Gmail address as your main, you can set yours up to forward your email to your Gmail account. You can even set up Gmail to reply with your other email address so it will look like it's coming from there and not Gmail.

The reason for using Gmail is that it pushes mail to the phone. The stock email polls (syncs) at whatever interval you set. Sure, if you set it for 2 hours it will save battery, but you'll only get your email every 2 hours! I had mine set for 1 hour, and after switching to this method, I've had a great improvement in battery life, and I'm getting my emails almost instantly.

 

[fernandezhjr]

Screen usage is usually around 85% for me. :-D I admit, I'm addicted. I can't stop trying to tweak this phone.

Edit: oops, I should have mentioned, I'm rooted. That makes a difference.

Sent from my Inspire 4G using Tapatalk

 

[manicalchemist]

Thanks for all the great info! I can hardly wait to get my phone (checked shipping - still in Fort Worth, TX )

 

[manicalchemist]

Well...USPS tracking fails....it got here today! However, my crackhead of a mail man decided to leave it at my DOORSTEP, instead of knocking or leaving a note to pick up.

So far, I'm digging it....it's taking me a little while to figure certain things out, but I catch on rather quickly.
I'm blown away at all the apps available. I even found some apps that I used on BBTorch.
I'll update this with more finds

 

[pazzo02]

Be sure to check Menu> Settings > Applications to see if you have the Non-Market apps checkbox. Not sure if updates are pre-installed on new phones. Check that box and install the Amazon appstore. Every day they have a paid app for free. It's a great way to build your app base.

 

[bigwig001]

Be sure to check Menu> Settings > Applications to see if you have the Non-Market apps checkbox. Not sure if updates are pre-installed on new phones. Check that box and install the Amazon appstore. Every day they have a paid app for free. It's a great way to build your app base.

Thanks for that info. Being a recent iOS convert, I am always on the lookout for new apps and tricks!

 

[Sweet_n_Fierce]

Well...USPS tracking fails....it got here today! However, my crackhead of a mail man decided to leave it at my DOORSTEP, instead of knocking or leaving a note to pick up.

So far, I'm digging it....it's taking me a little while to figure certain things out, but I catch on rather quickly.
I'm blown away at all the apps available. I even found some apps that I used on BBTorch.
I'll update this with more finds

EW! that isn't good. I hate when they just leave it at your door step without even knocking.
Glad you're loving the phone so far! Don't forget to update your phone by going to settings and then AT&T software update ... this will prompt gingerbread to be downloaded onto your inspire

~Sovereign

 

[manicalchemist]

So far, love the screen, games, apps and feel of the phone.....however, there are a few things irritating me. Battery life is less than I imagined (even after tweeking screen settings), the screen is completely invisible to me outdoors, and the alarms are not loud at all. Some of my contacts have gone MIA or AWOL and no contact pictures even after syncing with Google and Facebook.
Any suggestions?

 

[pazzo02]

Battery life - you should notice some improvement after 1) 5 full charge and drain cycles and 2) you stop playing with it all the time.

Screen brightness - I've always kept mine on auto

Alarm sounds - Are they noticably quieter than you ringtone? There are apps out there to increase the volume, but I can't recommend one because I haven't used them.

Contacts - open your contacts and hit Menu>View and make sure everything you want shown is checked. For sure you should have SIM and Phone checked. The only other one I have checked is Google, but you can check whatever you want to show up in your contacts. As far as the pictures, I'm assuming you're talking Facebook profile pictures. Make sure matching contacts are "linked" and their Facebook picture will show up.

 

[CZ Eddie]

If you go into the sound manager, you'll find different volume settings for different things.
My "media" sound was pretty low. After I cranked that up, the overall volume was much better. Still not as loud as my iPhone 3GS was though.

I sympathize with the screen brightness. My iPhone 3GS was easy to view while outside under the bright sun. The Inspire is very difficult to see in comparison.
The battery life also is not as good as my 3GS was.

Everything else blows away the 3GS.