Got LG Optimus V for $75 (!), Couple Questions

[larrytxeast]

The couple of questions I have (about my just-purchased LG Optimus V--for 75 bucks!):

I would like to be able to change font-sizes "system-wide," mainly because I find GMail's font too big when typing a message. You barely see 5 lines or so at the time, whereas on my Blackberry you see 15 or so lines at once. However, I think you have to "root" the phone to get access to apps which do this, am I right? (I tried "Spare Parts Plus" but the changes to font-size don't "stick.")

With my Blackberry, I could set it to shut-down around midnight & power on around 8 a.m. everyday (weekend exceptions also). Is there an app for Androids to do that?

"Default browser" prompts--I understand, when clicking a hyperlink in an email etc, the device prompting me which browser I wish to use (Opera Mini, Dolphin Mini, "stock"). However, it also does that unnecessarily when browsing within the "stock" browser itself, which is silly--after all, the other 2 don't keep prompting me which one I want to use when I'm--duh!--using that specific one then. Anyway to make it stop doing this yet STILL have it prompt when I click a link in email etc?

One person who tried to sell me a "rooted" one for $130 & apparently knows Android well tells me that his rooted version is able to tether to portable computers for unlimited data. What's the story there? (I don't really plan on doing that, Wi-Fi is fine for me in terms of my notebook PC, just curious mainly.)

Any word on a 2.3 Gingerbread update for this device?

PS

A former Blackberry user (Curve & Bold on AT&T)--yesterday, I got an LG Optimus V for Virgin Mobile for $75. Yes, $75! It even included a 2G microSD card and an otter-box. (It was missing the charger--woo-pee, I got a zillion of them lying around.) Got it from Craigslist, they had posted it in "electronics" (not cell phones), it has a couple of tiny "scuffs" but nothing objectionable at all. Initially it was "locked" to that person's account, but I had VM on the phone & the person took it off their account; it's on my account now, working just great (the $25 plan).

I still can't get over that. $75! Next time I go into Radio Shack etc & see their $200 price tag, I'm just going to burst out laughing. I don't imagine we'll be seeing the upcoming Motorola Triumph selling at discount for any length of mine, though.

Anyway: I've used Android off & on the past 4 months on a Samsung Captivate (briefly had an LG Optimus V before that, during the data outage, put this one on that account), so I know Android decently. I've installed Craigslist (dudu), Friendcaster, iPhone Keyboard Emulator (SixGreen Labs), AK Notepad (I use memos a lot & love how it syncs notes at Catch.Com), Dolphin Mini & Opera Mini, Wapedia and NoLED, among others. Among other observations: I'm happy to observe that the LG gets a GPS lock MUCH MUCH easier & quicker than the Captivate ever did. I don't miss "TouchWiz" other than the special shortcuts for auto-rotate, Wi-Fi etc that were in the notifications bar.

LRH

 

[LeslieAnn]

The phone is back at $150, which is still a good price, and you still got a deal, congrats.

The browser is asking what you want to open the links because it doesn't know what you want for default. Next time it asks, tell it to set it as default and it won't keep asking.

If you have an older Optimus, simply downloading and installing "Quick Settings" from the market will allow you to tether. Newer ones with the V5 software can't do it unless you root (pretty much).


2.3m Gingerbread...
Read this: http://forum.androidcentral.com/virgin-mobile-optimus-v/97706-thoughts-discussion-gb-update.html

 

[alexarena]

dammmmm I just paid $140 and I thought I got a deal.

 

[larrytxeast]

Yes, I swear I'm mentally sick--I've called a couple of Radio Shacks "asking" what the phone sells for, and when they tell me $150, I tell them "I got one for $75 WITH an otter-box," I can hear their jaws drop over the phone as they ask "where in the WORLD did you get that phone for $75?" Ha ha, it's priceless.

LeslieAnn As I recall, I did what you stated (while goofing around with another Android device), and once I did, then it started opening the "stock" browser even while selecting links in email etc, when I WANT it to ask. I don't want it to ask when I'm clicking links within the browser itself--it's sort of like clicking "reply" in GMail only to have GMail ask me which app (GMail, "stock," Yahoo App, whatever) I want to use for replying. Duh! It's not a deal breaker, just sort of aggravating is all. (Dolphin Mini and Opera Mini don't do that.)

LRH

 

[LeslieAnn]

Install another browser and it should reset those prompts.

 

[kcls]

As far as I know, you can only have ONE default browser. You cant have one browser be default for clicking on links within your email, and another for clicking on links within the browser you are using. If you want to bring the prompt back for asking what browser you would like to use, go into settings>> application settings>> the browser you set as default. Then scroll down and click on "Clear Defaults". Now it will prompt you for which browser you would like to use again.

 

[Retorrent]

You can thether the phone without rooting but it will require an application for that unless you root. But be mindful that it is unlimited web access not data. If you get flagged as a data hog they can throttle you or just cut your service. It happened to my buddy who got excessive with it.

Sent from my VM670 using Tapatalk

 

[larrytxeast]

As far as I know, you can only have ONE default browser. You cant have one browser be default for clicking on links within your email, and another for clicking on links within the browser you are using. If you want to bring the prompt back for asking what browser you would like to use, go into settings>> application settings>> the browser you set as default. Then scroll down and click on "Clear Defaults". Now it will prompt you for which browser you would like to use again.

Again, hope I'm not being difficult, and it's not a deal breaker, but that's just bizarre behavior. Maybe I'm not explaining myself well enough.

If I'm in GMail reading an email message or in AK Notepad in a note and select a hyperlink, it makes perfect sense that it will either prompt me for what browser I wish or it will trigger the one I have set as the default. That's as it should be. However, if I am viewing a website, say, within Dolphin Mini and I click a link within Dolphin Mini, of course Dolphin Mini--the browser I'm actually specifically using--will handle the link. Dolphin isn't going to ask me if I want to use some OTHER browser within the context of using Dolphin Mini itself. The same goes for Opera Mini.

However, for some reason, if I'm using the "stock" Webkit browser, it does just that. That makes no sense. Just like how, right now, I'm at my PC using Firefox. When I click a link within here, Firefox isn't going to ask me if I want to keep using it or, for whatever bizarre reason, have Internet Explorer suddenly take over. But if I am, say, viewing an email in Microsoft Outlook, then the "registered default" browser is what will take over, or it will prompt.

On the phone, if I'm browsing in Opera Mini or Dolphin, I just hum along--but if I browse in the "stock," it keeps asking me over & over if the "stock" is what I want to use--when it's what I'm specifically using to start with. That makes no sense at all.

But anyway--no operating system is perfect, just saying.

LRH

 

[LeslieAnn]

If you are using a non-default browser, and you have installed anything lately without picking the new default, it will do what you are saying.

You need to clear out the default and pick one, then it should fix the issue.

 

[watskyhotsky]

getting a optimus V for 75 is a pretty good deal. getting an unused Galaxy S "Vibrant" for 30 is a little better make a killing on the re sell and my V has been paid for months and months

 

[larrytxeast]

LeslieAnn thanks for the tips, I will try that. watskyhotsky wow, that is an AMAZING deal, makes mine seem downright pathetic by comparison, ha ha. I had the Galaxy S (Captivate, AT&T) before for about 3 months, sold it about 3 weeks ago for $150, it was gone fast at that price. (I sold it figuring I'd get the Motorola Triumph on Virgin Mobile, or that said announcement might drive the price of the Optimus V down--the idea of spending $200 for one when its screen was smaller than my Captivate just didn't work for me.)

I liked it except its GPS was horrible (a known Galaxy S issue). I liked "TouchWiz," especially how the "all apps" section scrolled horizontally (vs vertically) with proper "next page" increments, and how Wi-Fi, GPS, Auto-Rotate, vibrate etc were in the notifications section, and the way you could bring up a cursor "selector-head" in a text box. The flaky GPS just drove me crazy.

Does anyone have a suggestion-fix etc for "system wide fonts?"

LRH

 

[watskyhotsky]

Does anyone have a suggestion-fix etc for "system wide fonts?"

LRH

I use AOSPcm7, which is a 2.3.4 Gingerbread ROM for the optimus V. it has some built in options to change over all font size. I've had to adjust it for some friends who wanted it bigger and some who wanted it smaller on their own Vs. it works fine.

i dont know about doing that on a stock non rooted froyo build though

 

[riggerman]

If you miss the horizontal scrolling in the app drawer, try put go launcher ex. It offers an option for either horizontal or vertical scrolling. It also has more options for transition animations and many more display and operation settings.