Introductions

[chefz]

Hi. I'm chefz, a silly name I set up a long time ago in college because I liked to bake and my brain completely froze when prompted to come up with a user name and it was all that popped in there - kinda like the Staypuft Marshmallow Man on Ghostbusters. My current phone is the Droid Incredible. The Droid is my first smartphone, coming after dumbphones like the LG Dare and EnV2.

Prior to the Droid I was majorly addicted to Pocket PCs, especially skinning and theming for my Dell Axim x50v, but then when the whole Pocket PC thing died a slow tragic death and all my old online forums withered up, I was bereft without any gadget addictions for awhile. With my Incredible I've customized the heck out of it, haunted the screenshots threads, installed various ROMs while holding my breath and praying I didn't just brick my phone, and bemoaned its poor camera and battery use.

My Incredible is finally starting to reach the end of its life, and just in time for my upgrade. I was getting really incredibly (heh, no pun intended) frustrated with HTC's "out of memory" messages and other hardware issues, so even ventured into iphone territory and tested out my first iphone ever, the 4s. It lasted a week before I returned it. While I liked some features, I just didn't like the limitations - no widgets, not being able to change everything about how my phone looked, couldn't find alternatives to certain apps that were Android only, and REALLY needed my back button and notification lights!

So I knew I wanted a new phone, and almost went for the Razr Maxx, but just wasn't in love with it. None of the phones on Verizon really leapt out at me. I was going to wait and see if the Incredible 4G swayed me away from the Razr Maxx at all. Now I'm so glad I waited - the SGSIII looks like my dream phone, and I can lock in my unlimited data (theoretically). Despite my reservations about going to such a bigger screen from the Incredible, I can't wait to get the GSIII.

 

[socal]

Howdy. I'm Phil. Past smartphones include Moto Q, BB Storm, Curve, Tour. Bought a used DInc about 18 months ago to try out Android and loved it. Then got the TB on a one-year contract...so glad. Been looking to upgrade cuz my battery life is horrible and I don't want the huge extended battery. Looked at the Maxx for a few days, mainly for the battery, but jumped on the GSIII ship when I saw it was coming to Verizon. Had always heard great things about this line but never wanted to leave VZW.

Want a reliable phone that can get me through the day. I'm at a desk most of the time but when on the road, I"m on the phone almost the entire time(work calls, email, texts, etc).
Very interested in the bigger screen as well.

Concerned about the Radio and GPS issues I've been reading about on the Nexus and older devices, so hopefully they got that fixed on this model.

 

[danfinger]

Aloha!
danfinger here.
My current phone is a t-mobile tap. It stinks like monkey butt. I've never had a smart phone before.

My t-mo family plan contract expires 7/8 and I'm really looking forward to getting a real 21st century phone for myself and the wife. Was originally looking forward to jumping ship to VZW right up until they announced the shared plan <cough>RIPOFF</cough> -- Been with t-mo for 8 years so I'm really looking forward to juicing them for all I can get. "so t-mo, what do you want to do to keep me… ?" It'll likely be a better deal in the long run. We live and work in SF CA so I doubt speed or coverage will be an issue. Not having an LTE radio will likely give better battery life too, which is good.
I checked out the One X at the AT&T store on Market st.- I liked the screen but that was about it. No microSD is a deal killer. I'd rather get a 64G SD card and load all my music to that than stream from google music and kill all my data while I'm bopping around town.

I recall the days when I had an HP iPAQ (yea I'm old) and thinking, why the heck doesn't this thing have a GD cellphone in it!?! Looking forward to all-in-one goodness.

 

[lsmunoz]

Scott from Central Indiana. I have had two Blackberries, an HTC Droid Incredible (for a few weeks) and am currently on a Motorola Droid X that I have had since launch day.

Basically I need a battery that will get me through the day. I considered the RazrMaxx, but decided to go with the SGS3 because it was newer and hasa removable battery (my DX has had 3 batteries suffering from bulge, so it was nice to be able to replace it).

 

[scorpiodsu]

Like many of you, I have used many devices over the past couple years. Originally a blackberry user back in 2006. Moved to iPhone in 2009 (while still using blackberry). Then dropped blackberry and went back and forth between Android and iPhone. Currently using iPhone 4 and Nexus (mostly iPhone). My only Samsung touchwiz experience was the AT&T captivate a couple years ago. I'm hoping that combine with 4.0 touchwiz will be a lot better than I remember. Also if the battery get's me through the day then I'll be fine. Battery life on Android devices always had me running back to iPhone. If that's taken care of and no issues with radios and stuff, I should be able to make this my primary device, until iPhone 5 comes out and then the nex nexus comes out LOL. The cycle will never end.

 

[bmidd]

Brian

BB-several
Fascinate
iPhone4
Gnex
Razr Maxx
S3 will be for wife, she is still laboring along on a DINC2!

 

[cincydude]

I've been lurking for a while so now is as good a time as any...

Started the smartphone game with the OG droid for both me and my wife. Hers started acting weird so we switched her over to a OG incredible. Last summer there when the rumors of unlimited plans not switching over to 4G I got a thunderbolt off of craigs list. Last sunday I lost it on a rollercoaster. I have now transfered my service back to my droid and am willing to deal with it for a month just for the S3.

When I was checking out they offered 50 dollers off each line so I went ahead and got my wife the white one.

Timing couldnt have been better to loose a phone as I wanted to get one more subsidized phone out of them before the i'm stuck paying full price to keep my plan.

Sent from my AT100 using Android Central Forums

 

[bigdaddytee]

Hello all! I started my phone odessy back in the nineties, at Verizon, with a long list of forgettable Kyocera candy bars...and then came the Razr! I loved that phone, and Moto's solid builds, so when I saw the OG Droid, I knew it was meant to be.
My wife and I loved our Droids, and ran them stock, and hard, for about 2.5 years. That's when, with trepidation and soul searching, I decided on the GNex. And I honestly couldn't be happier, primarily because of the pure Android experience.
Not the best screen, or camera? Debatable. Battery life? Horrendous. But every little glitch can be forgiven, worked around, or put up with, for ICS...pure, clean, ICS.
I've decided that from now on, any device I have will be AOSP. If I have to baby an older phone, waiting for the devs to do their magic, so be it. I won't settle for some hardware makers crappy idea of what Android "should" be. I guess you could say I've seen the light.
And the hardware isn't bad either, I'm pretty impressed with Sammy, and I've just been reading HOX multitasking horror story threads, as well as coming from old school Blur. I definitely see the GSIII in my future, but it looks like I'll be paying full retail, as we just used our upgrades on our Nexii.
So I'll be looking forward to all your threads on the SIII, your triumphs or tales of woe...thanks for blazing a trail for me, and all the others who are sure to follow.


Sent from my (pretty awesome) SCH-i515

 

[HolyBuckeye]

Hello...

First smartphone was the Droid X which I got last March, liked it, but starting to have some problems that's making me mad....have only had LG or Moto phones in the past. First Samsung phone I am getting and 2nd smartphone ever..

I'm pretty excited for this phone as it's my first 4G phone as well, and has some great features attached to it

 

[nate44]

First android phone was the Thunderbolt. Came from blackberry. I really got into tweaking the phone a lot, and hope the SIII will have as good a rooting community or better than the Tbolt.

 

[Cory Streater]

Love all the BB users that are trying out Android. It enables me to give CB Kevin a hard time lol

So from what I read you will most likely get yours before we get ours ,if ya go buy the current "ship by" date that vzw has posted

I know. I almost installed a dislike button over this post. Instead I have demanded that he not open his Sprint box until I get mine.

Hi, I'm Kal. I'm coming from the Fascinate, which I've really enjoyed, despite the GPS and Bing issues. Great screen and form factor.

I'm a little concerned about the SIII's size (too big?) and radios, but I think it will be a popular device, which guarantees lots of rooting, ROMs, and workarounds from the great folks here.

Very enthusiastic about 4G, dual cameras, and NFC. I'm enough of a nerd that I'll be driving around using GPS to find stores that use Google Wallet (and that pay service Verizon supports).

Been on Verizon (and before that Bell Atlantic Mobile) continuously since 1988. Jumping to SIII now to preserve unlimited data, but I'd have gone for it eventually anyway.

My smartphone history is:
-- Palm IIIxe connected to an Eriksson phone via snap-on modem-to-serial. (1999-2001)
-- HP Jornada 548/567 (PPC) connected to Qualcomm phone via CF-to-serial (2002-2005)
-- iPaq (PPC) to a Moto V710 via BT hack (2006-2008)
-- HTC xv6700 Apache (PPC) (2006-2008)
-- HTC Touch Pro (Windows Mobile) (2008-2010)
-- Samsung Fascinate (Android) (2010- )

I have a special interest in using smartphones as paper-free "portable offices." I've been completely paperless since 2003, and I'm a founder/moderator at paperlessdigitallife : Paperless and Digital Life.

It's going to look enormous to you, coming from the Fascinate, but it will only take about 24-hours to get used to, and fall in love with it. If nothing else, it's smaller than that Jornada you had!

Things that concern me are this pretty phone could get damaged. I don't like cases on my phone so this SGS is going to be going around in the nude. Fingers crossed I don't drop it! Also screen protectors irk me when they are not perfectly installed so I may forgo that as well.

My phone history is as such:
Razr
EnV
EnV Touch
LG Dare
Droid X
HTC Thunderbolt

I'm with you on the cases, but for those that do want them, look for some awesome contests in the forums. Nice thing about this phone is that accessory manufacturers should be able to make a lot of one-size fits all cases and what not.

I remember a day when everyone had a RAZR, and I was the lonesome one with my big old
PC and Treo. Then came the iPhone took over the world. I stuck to WM until Android. I had to hack something and WM was the only thing that would let me.

 

[laurel25]

Hi - I'm Laurel. I've had all sorts of dumb phones that I can't remember (Nokia, Motorola, Samsung), the EnV, LG Dare, original Incredible, and now I'm on the Incredible 2, which, for me, has been awesome!

I'm really excited for the camera and screen on the S3 and for me a removable battery and the option to have an SD card were musts. I'm a little leery about the radio quality and reception, but hey, that's what extended warranties are for - if it doesn't work right, return it! I am a little concerned about the size because I have really small hands, but I figure I'll get used to it!

 

[kalnel#WN]

It's going to look enormous to you, coming from the Fascinate, but it will only take about 24-hours to get used to, and fall in love with it. If nothing else, it's smaller than that Jornada you had!.

That's what I'm guessing, too. I went through the same thing when I switched from the TouchPro to the Fascinate. It felt a lot bigger than the TP, but I was used to it in about an hour.

It's actually pretty close in size to the Jornada 567, although thinner and lighter:
Galaxy S III: 136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6 mm, 133 grams
Jornada 567/8: 132 x 76.5 x 17.2 mm, 173 grams

But, big difference between a 3.2-inch, 240X320 Pocket PC and a 4.8-inch, 720 x 1280 running Android.

(Still gotta say, though, that the old Jornada had the best color screen in direct sunlight that I've ever owned.)

 

[Cuda13]

Hello,

Phones for me started in the late 80's with:

Motorola Ultra Classic (w/ the 6" screw on antenna)
Motorola Star Tac (great signal and battery life)
several forgettable lg & Moto type flip phones
Blackberry Curve 8330 (first smart phone)
OG Droid
Thunderbolt (current phone)
SGSIII on pre-order

 

[JimBen73]

Hi all, my name is Ruben. I started with a samsung flip phone, then an EnV, next came the BB Storm to my current phone the Fascinate. I still love my Fascinate but its beginning to show its age. I'm looking forward to the bigger screen and 4g ofcourse.

 

[hachiroku13954]

been with Verizon for a good 8 years.
Started with a used LG flip phone that my girlfriend at that time gave me.
Upgraded that to the original Motorola RAZR flip.
Then went to the BlackBerry Pearl. Paid out the butt hole with the data plan.
Downgraded to the LG ENV Touch. Stupid phone.
Super upgraded to my current phone the DROID Incredible 2. Bought through amazon when it first came out and has been on the Eligible Upgrade list since because I really don't know. Hahaha i think it's because I just said I wanted to add data plan on my contract thus never really signed a new 2 year contract. Dodged a bullet there.

 

[Scout_313]

I'm Mike and I'm coming from an iPhone 4. I've previously had Android, Blackberry, WP7, and of course iOS devices. As for Android, I've had experience with HTC Sense, MotoBlur, and vanilla Android.

To be honest, my main reason for upgrading to the S3 is my desire to leave the Apple ecosystem. This phone is bigger than what I'd like but it is hands down the best option out there right now. However, I've grown sick of Apple's business practices and no longer wish to give them my money. I'm actually paying full retail to leave iOS.

I'm really hoping that the S3 has great battery life, as I wasn't impressed with that of the Bionic, RAZR (never had the Maxx), or the Galaxy Nexus. I do like the fact that the S3 has a removable battery so that I can possibly use an extended battery or buy a second battery if I feel I need more power. It goes without saying that I'd like software that isn't prone to crash or have a ton of bugs to work out.

As for the One X, I'm not really a fan of HTC Sense so I wouldn't pick it over the S3. I'm even keeping my eye on WP8 as I was fairly impressed with my old HTC Trophy and I found WP7 a decent OS to use. If WP8 shows that the OS has matured nicely, it's definitely something that I'd consider picking up if the right phone came along.

For a full history of my previous smartphones, I've had the following:
BB Pearl 8130
BB Tour 9630
BB Storm 2
BB Bold 9950
Motorola Droid
HTC Droid Incredible
Motorola Droid X
Motorola Droid Pro
Motorola Droid X2
Apple iPhone
HTC Trophy
Motorola Droid Bionic
Motorola Droid RAZR
Samsung Galaxy Nexus
Apple iPhone 4s

I know I've had a ton of phones but I'm pretty nitpicky when it comes to technology. One of these years I'll make it through an entire contract without swapping phones, well, maybe.

 

[papachange05]

Hey guys, my name is Sam.

My first phone was a Virgin Mobile pre-pay with a monochrome screen.

From there, I had a Nokia candybar and a Motorola flip phone until I got in on the greatest phone plan of all time: the Sprint Sero plan with a Palm Treo 755p. I still love this phone, and will get it out from time to time to play with it.

As I had become a Palm fanboy, I waited in line all morning and traveled to three separate Sprint stores to get my Palm Pre- on release day. Man, those were exciting times. I used my release-day Pre for two years before finally accepting the fate of Palm and reluctantly moving to Android.

My latest and current phone is the Incredible 2. This was a great first Android phone. It never got the credit it deserved. I will always miss the card interface of Webos, but Android is definitely a solid alternative for the lost Palm fanboys searching for a light at the end of the tunnel.

My reason for getting the Galaxy S III is simple: I've never experienced a flagship Android phone before. This one seems like it is up to the challenge to wow and excite me. Heck, it already is, or else, I wouldn't be in these forums all the time looking for the latest information!



Sent from my Palm C40

 

[Anon_Emus]

Hi All, Ric here,

If I did it correctly my 1st phone was the Moto bag phone pictured. Ahhhh what a battery, it would last all 1/2 day if I didn't use it and maybe 15 to 30 min if I did. I think it was on GTE but can’t remember for sure. As we all (old people) remember Verizon took/bought/changed the name over...

Since the Moto bagger, I have owned two or three 8" to 10" bricks from Nokia & Moto, 1st flip phone was a ? brick from Moto, also attached. About 4 more flip phones between Samsung & LG before I got my 1st StarTac (had a grey one and then a newer black one). Finally the Razr. I think it was 3rd or 4th Generation. Then ATT came out with their EXCLUSIVE iPhone, DO'H! I would have killed for one but could not fathom leaving VZW, so I waited very patiently impatiently for the exclusivity to expire.

Desiring to get into the smartphones but not wanting to get the "big" phones (heck I had finally downsized to the Razr, remember that bag phone?) I got a Blackberry Pearl I think on launch day, can’t remember for sure. My solution to the iPhone BS, Storm 1 on launch day, Storm 2 on launch day, I was a strong fan (read CB Kevin’s every word) but the hardware/software just did not keep up with the market and I like newer/better/stronger/faster toys, not necessarily the best but better.

My Salvation! Thunderbolt on launch day. BEST PHONE I EVER OWNED except the battery life and then that dreaded OTA that caused the random reboots. I rooted and installed a few roms, discovered BAMF and IHTFP69’s SkyRaider Zeus. He made that phone sing, installed the Rezound battery and the phone was perfect. I still have my TBolt and my S2 (which I am using this week as I am in the Caribbean on VACA and VZW was kind enough to unlock it (another reason I love like VZW) for me so I could use local sym, have to come home tomorrow :'(). I know, what the hell was that last sentence, hope there are no grammar police in here. Came back to add this interesting side note: Cory came to my defense when I was attacked for my 1st or second post in the forums by the idiot forum police, Thanks Cory!

I looked HARD at the GS2 but alas it did not come to Verizon, lucky for me cause my pockets are not deep and buying phones at full price would be difficult. Pre ordered the GSIII, white 32 for me and blue 16 for the wife (she went from the Razr to the Rezound) and kept both of our unlimited plans. We probably don’t need them but it’s like a blanket, it’s there if you want it.

I really really like HTC. HOX? Don’t know if Verizon will see it and no MSD slot was the deal breaker for me, battery situation also a problem. Biggest concern about GSIII: worried about the pentile but trying to believe the folks that say it is the 2nd best screen out and won’t be a problem/issue. I personally think it was crap on the Bionic so I have my fingers crossed. Damn, these phones are getting bigger again… I believe 4.8 will be perfect. I hope IHTFP69 gets the SGIII, I’m good for 2 more years, I think

 

[cmybliss]

Good morning all!

I'm cmybliss, the "c" stands for costuming, and I'm eagerly awaiting my pebble blue GSIII! My android life has all been with HTC. Eris, Incredible, Incredible2, so I'm a bit nervous about jumping to Samsung.

I'm looking forward to the faster processor, and 2 gigs of ram. Should make the phone run super smooth. I hope the battery life is at least comparable to my Inc2, which I can run pretty much all day with juice to spare. I'm also really looking forward to the big screen. I really wanted the note, and had planned on waiting to see if VZW would get it, but with the new plans going live on the 28th, I couldn't wait. From all the reviews I've seen, this thing should be awesome!

sent from my Incredible2 using tapatalk 2