leaving sprint, need advice on getting a new phone

[paranoid.android]

hi guys. so for a while my dad and i shared a plan on sprint. but then he decided to leave sprint a few months ago to join simple mobile, and now he wants me to join him. i know that the optimus s doesn't use sim cards, so i would probably have to purchase a new phone. i'm really not ready to depart with my phone (especially since i've really been enjoying having root access and the great software that you guys have created)

so i just have a few questions:

1. which new phone should i purchase? i really don't want anything fancy, like the EVO or Galaxy. i'd be happy with any other phone from the optimus one family (m, t, u, v, etc.) or something similar.

i need a phone that will use a sim card, do any of the phones from the optimus one line use a sim card?

2. if i were to root my new android, then flash cyanogenmod and xionia recovery, is it possible for me to create a nandroid backup of my optimus S, transfer it to the new phone, and install all of my old apps, appearance, widgets, settings... basically having the same setup from my optimus S on the new phone? i would still be using the same sd card from the old optimus S.

thanks for all your help!

 

[duffieldj1]

I'd look up hardware specs and get the one with the best on your budget and If your looking to root and custom rom it then I'd look up all of that info too before you buy anything

 

[something15525]

If you're looking to go all out, get an unlocked Galaxy Nexus. OTA updates straight from Google and definitely some major long-time support. I have a Sprint branded GNex and still get great support, but the Unlocked GSM variant gets everything first.

Good luck!

 

[Va1ha11a]

If you're looking to go all out, get an unlocked Galaxy Nexus. OTA updates straight from Google and definitely some major long-time support. I have a Sprint branded GNex and still get great support, but the Unlocked GSM variant gets everything first.

Good luck!

+1 one for the gnex. Everything works on it, and I recently went with the evo LTE and have had some problems with it. There are definitly high points, but I've heard that a lot of the evo problems spill over into one x territory, so you may want to wander around those forums before buying. Actually, you should probably read the forums before buying anyway.

 

[sonicbluemustang]

Best bet to get Titanium Backup for your apps.

 

[paranoid.android]

thanks guys the galaxy nexus seems like a great phone, definitely competition for the iphone. it's just a little too expensive / hi tech for my taste. i've decided to go with t mobile's lg optimus T since it's a supported device of simple mobile, meaning i can get 3G speeds. this is good to know because my dad recently purchased an htc inspire, not knowing that he wouldn't be able to get past 2G speeds on simple mobile since it's an at&t phone and only works on the edge network.. he should've come to me first :-\

i'll probably use titanium backup to back up my apps and data. i'd still like to know if just rooting the new phone and flashing CM7 + nandroid backup would do the trick. it would essentially back up everything, like apps, data, appearance settings, etc. anyway right? i was looking at this article on lifehacker explaining how to upgrade from one phone to another. i definitely wouldn't use ROM manager, but i think just going to recovery mode on the new phone and flashing a nandroid backup would give it the same setup as my optimus S..

 

[cole2kb]

You wouldn't be able to restore a nandroid from your S on to the T. The T is a GSM device and none of these ROMs will work with it.

 

[paranoid.android]

i've read that the optimus T was capable of running CM 7.2. so there's no way that i could transfer data through a nandroid backup? i'm only concerned with transferring as much information as possible from one phone to the other so that most of my settings are the same.

 

[cole2kb]

They may both have CM 7.2 ROMs, but they are built differently to support different types of networks. For example, you couldn't take kraven's CM7 and put it on your Optimus T. Best thing for you to do here is to really sit down and think about how much data you really need to transfer over. SMS can easily be done with SMS Backup & Restore from the market. You can manually copy over your photos. Game data, you can back up with Titanium if you really feel it necessary. Beyond that, what is there? Settings? I am basically a crack flasher at this point, and it truly takes less than 5 minutes to re-apply your settings, as long as you know where you're going / what you're looking for.

Unfortunately, there just isn't a quick way for you to do this, but the time you'll spend setting it all back up probably isn't as much as you think it will be.

 

[hlxanthus]

No getting around it, you are going to have to start from scratch. There is NO way to restore a nand from one device to another. On top of that it looks like there is virtually no dev work going on this device, though it looks like you can flash p500 roms with the use of a baseband fix similar to the method used here to run zvj roms on zvd baseband.

 

[paranoid.android]

okay, thanks for the advice. i guess it shouldn't take that long to set up the phone once it's rooted. now all i need to worry about is which carrier to switch to. my dad is pissed about simple mobile not offering 3G or 4G speeds for his phone (although it's really his fault for buying the wrong phone >.>)
the easiest thing for us to do is to find a company that will support both of our phones and have reasonable prices. i think straight talk might be a good idea.

 

[koeylondon]

Straight talk looks almost too good to be true. All user maintained phones, just sim cards and calling plans. Why am I still on sprint again?

 

[williek113]

nothing but congrats for leaving sprint! haha the service is... not the best I'll say... and most big cities dont get 4g

 

[epidenimus]

nothing but congrats for leaving sprint! haha the service is... not the best I'll say... and most big cities dont get 4g

Agreed. I live in one of their few WiMax cities and we cannot get a 4G signal on an E4GT standing outside in downtown on a clear day. If all 19 cities where they have sketchy LTE were in the same state, you could call it a network, but that is nationwide. Sprint: The 'Now what?!' Network.

@ParanoidAndroid: GNex is still a great option with oodles of support and even more ROMs than the Opti S. I'm liking my GS3 with ParanoidAndroid (The ROM), too. I like Motorola and HTC products, but Samsung seems to be where it's at right now.

I have hacked up a few T-mobile devices, including the Optimus T. The custom CM7-based ROM I put on it is a marked improvement over stock, but it is still hampered by the limitations of the hardware. The LG G2x is a considerable upgrade that takes CM7 very well and I would be happy to use if I were on T-mobile. It has a SIM card and you can probably pick one up on Craigslist or ebay for a reasonable price, too.

 

[paranoid.android]

i have a love/hate relationship with sprint. i'm on the unlimited plan, but most days the highest DL speed i can get is 20kb/s! (according to speedtest.net)
the good thing though is that for almost a year, i used tethering and hotspot to get internet on my pc and wireless devices. i don't know if sprint tried to punish me by making my connection speed super slow, but at least my service never cut off

i'd previously never heard of straight talk, but it does seem too good to be true. it's like simple mobile in the way that you have to re-up your service every month, but their prices are hard to beat. i've been reading different forums around the internet and straight talk's main problem seem to be: they'll throttle your service if you exceed 100mb per day or 2gb per month of data use. that means NO tethering or hotspot, NO excessive netflix or youtube streaming, and NO heavy downloading. a lot of people are upset because ST lowers their speeds if they go over 2gb, although there are some ways of getting around this if you change your apn settings. i know that prior to getting an actual internet service, i used 6gb in one month from usb tethering and wifi hotspot (info obtained through onavo count) but now that i have optimum online, i've only used 150mb of data on my phone since the beginning of september. the most data useage i'll probably be doing from now on is downloading songs, watching a few videos on youtube, and surfing the web. this should be easier to do on straight talk since most people get 5-10 mb per second (as long as they don't "push the limits" of their "unlimited" plans) i just hope i never run in to that throttling bs..

these links really get into what straight talk is like for all types of people:
Straight Talk: It could let you dump AT&T or T-Mobile — Mobile Technology News
[INFO][Speedtest]AT&T Straight Talk vs T-Mobile Straight Talk - xda-developers
http://forums.androidcentral.com/google-galaxy-nexus/193985-slow-data-speeds-straight-talk.html
Straight Talk & AT&T Sim | Android and Me

edit: i haven't purchased a new phone, so i'm still open to any suggestions! they phone just has to cost under $300 and sim card compatible.

 

[epidenimus]

Whether I was downtown or out near the airport, my 3G speed with Sprint tested out at 0.3 Mbps D / 0.2 Mbps U. Fine for plenty of things. In the same locations, my 4G with Verizon is more reliable and consistently tests out at 9.04 Mbps D / 3.17 Mbps U.

Just doing the math, I can pull or push more in a day on Verizon than I can in a whole month on Sprint. I'd call that an upgrade.

I only wish I could use my Opti S as a backup. I guess that's the pro of going with a GSM option.

 

[cole2kb]

There is no confirmed answer on Straight Talk's throttling. It all depends on the area you live in and how heavy data usage from other customers in your area is. So, basically, if you're a bandwidth hog and take advantage of the unlimited data allowance, you'll ruin it for yourself as well as others.

 

[javascriptvoid]

im debating on getting the evo or the sII for my upgrade any advise thx