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I have to ask, does anyone like their GN?

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phredog

Well-Known Member
I needed a great travel phone (unlocked). I saw the GN when I was in China last winter. I ordered one out of Germany delivered to my home back in the USA. Three weeks later I returned, and my GN was waiting for me.

It sat there unused until my next Aisa trip. I used it in Singapore, and along the border in Maylasia. I have a prepaid Singtel SIM. The problems started to show themselves.

I returned to the USA. I bought a T-Mob SIM. The phone had all the same problems with Voice talk, freezeups, etc. I was NOT impressed at all. I called Samsung. They said I have to call Samsung custmer service in Germany. They would not cover the phone in the USA.

Once the model became avaiable in the USA some freinds ran out to buy them at Verizon, and T-Mob. Most of my freinds returned them in short order.

I tossed my $600 phone in my sock drawer for several months unitl ICS came along. ICS 4.03 helped me to disable the bloatware. My phone improved some. At least it no longer froze up.

I called T-Moble and dropped the voice service. My GN has a data-only plan. I use it as a tablet only. My Nokia flip phone is my voice phone. My GN can not be trusted for something so critical as voice.

I read many forums. I noted that everyone has nothing but problems. So why does the thing sell? What value is this phone?

My freind was willing to trade it for his iPhone 4. But he read all the fourms, and backed out of the deal.

Maybe I just do not get it? My faith in Android is destroyed. It is such a pity. I am a Linux professional. I am an admin and a developer. Linux users are supposed to love Android, so I am told. I am not impressed.

Posted from my GN.
 
I love mine it never fail the only reason I went to the s3 is the battery but other then that it was good. also not all android phones are bad
 
Both my wife, and I absolutely love our Notes. I rarely ever experience problems with it and have never been happier with any Android device. (I have owned 5+ Android devices in the past.)

I'm surprised you're using the phone on T-Mobile, since you only get Edge (2G) data speeds. I used my Note on T-Mobile for two months before switching over to AT&T's network, I couldn't handle such slow data speeds.
 
It must be a preception thing. I bought my Jeep Wrangler in 2002. I paid it off in three years. I have driven it all this time. 115K miles later it needed its first repair. The AC was making a terrible noise. The repair just cost me $800.

Android has failed me from day one. If my Jeep was as trashy as this phone people would say, "Damn domestic car!". Why does a phone get a break that a car does not? I do not have to have a second car to get to work every day, but I have to have a second phone to make calls. Maybe I am missing something?
 
phredog said:
It must be a preception thing. I bought my Jeep Wrangler in 2002. I paid it off in three years. I have driven it all this time. 115K miles later it needed its first repair. The AC was making a terrible noise. The repair just cost me $800.

Android has failed me from day one. If my Jeep was as trashy as this phone people would say, "Damn domestic car!". Why does a phone get a break that a car does not? I do not have to have a second car to get to work every day, but I have to have a second phone to make calls. Maybe I am missing something?
Click to expand...


You are only missing the point. Android is the operating system. The problems you
Mention are all a function of the phone....
 
I like my phone a lot... I use the note more than my tablet... I can read, listen to audio books and music, and play games, watch neflix, and read the news.... The list goes on.. I still think there is some things I haven't discovered yet.. Sorry to hear your having problems with yours.. I wonder is due to your location or your carrier? I haven't heard to many complaints from at&t customers..
 
Been good to me this phone.

Please don't write Android completely off though until you have tried a galaxy nexus. It's pure Android which you may get on with. Phone manufacturers are slowly ruining Android with their touch wiz and sense crap
 
phredog, sorry you've had issues, I know a few people with the Note who say it's fantastic, it sounds like you've just got a lemon unfortunately. There are loads of people out there who've had an amazing experience with the note.

I read many forums. I noted that everyone has nothing but problems. So why does the thing sell?
Click to expand...

The thing with forums is most people won't post to to say what a great experience they're having, it's normally "I have a problem with XXX, anyone know a solution"?
 
El Presidente said:
phredog, sorry you've had issues, I know a few people with the Note who say it's fantastic, it sounds like you've just got a lemon unfortunately. There are loads of people out there who've had an amazing experience with the note.



The thing with forums is most people won't post to to say what a great experience they're having, it's normally "I have a problem with XXX, anyone know a solution"?
Click to expand...

Funny, I was about to say the exact same thing myself except a work day got in the way.

BTW: a completely satisfied Note user here and I use it as my modem when on the go, gps, phone, messenger (skype) and game platform.

Regards,
Eric Ritchie.
 
As far as I am concerned Android and the Note have been great. I updated to ICS with minimal issues to resolve. I'm sorry to see that Phedrog has had so many problems and is so bitter about his device. I only wish that we could, somehow, sort it out for him so that he too can enjoy his phone.
 
I migrated from iP4S to GN and love it. I don't get all the issues that you experienced. I took a little time to sort my phone out, installing Juice Defender, etc but it works great as a phone and tablet.

Try upgrading to 4.0.4. and see how you go.
 
With over 5 million Notes sold, even if there were 10,000 people posting on forums saying they don't like their Notes, that's still less than 1%.

I've been on these forums for maybe half a year now, and have posted many times that i have never had a single problem. No crashes, no reboots, and I have always had excellent battery life.

That said, I don't like using my Note any more.

I think the Note is a stellar piece of hardware and I love the stylus, and I used it for 6 months to make sure I gave it a fair try but I don't like using it as a phone because of Android. Now It's more just for playing a few games and I have gone back to my previous phone.

I've seen a lot of people on these forums complaining about the phone, and almost always it's a problem with Android, and not the phone itself. So I am sure the Note 2 will be even better - but I won't look into it cuz of Android. :(

But still, I enjoy helping out others in these forums when I can .
 
The 4.04 update just came over the air. Maybe that will make a difference.

The one thing that made the biggest improvement to date was the update from Gingerbread to ICS. The ability to disable 'Voice Talk' was the one and only thing that saved this *(@^ phone from eithe being microwaved or thrown into the ocean. Wow, 'Voice Talk' must be the most hated app ever to exist on a phone.
 
I've had mine for about 3 months and I have to say on gb I wasn't that impressed but since ics update came along I love it. It is fast, smooth and as has already been said it's great for ebooks (kindle is a fab app), music and video. I often watch BBC iplayer if the missus is watching her usual cr*p on the box and the quality is superb.

Having said that I don't use the phone much so perhaps this is really the bugbear. It would be interesting to find out what the people who love or hate it use it for the most.

Also I use it on Wifi most of the time so for me it is like a tablet.

JCH
 
Love mine.

CyanogenMod9 + Mugen 5400mah battery+ 64g microsd + truly unlimited HSPA+ with Three in the uk = the most amazing, brilliantly versatile and pocketable device I've over owned.

Never leaves my side, it's the ultimate convergence device. Only thing missing really is LTE, but seen as it's yet to exist here in the UK and I regularly get 7mb down/3.5mb up with Three, I can't complain.
 
Love mine since day one, never got any serious problems, and only rarely (probably once in ten days). With CWM9 root, setcpu, and SuperSU, I can even extend the battery life to 24+ hours plus used as reading device, playing games, and videos. It will be reduced to 200-400 Mhz when the screen is off and will reach full potential of 1400 Mhz during certain games only.
 
I want to add, that the Note is actually the vest video camera I have ever owned. I don't upgrade phone soften, so I still want to use it for video and pictures.

Like JCHNanty I only use it on wi-fi, and it is working nicely as a small tablet type device.
 
I'm sure most Note users are happy. My evidence is customer reviews on Amazon UK.

As I write there 123 reviews, of which;
101 are 5 star
14 are 4 star
3 are 3 star
1 is 2 star
4 are 1 star

If 5 and 4 star reviews mean a reasonable level of satisfaction, as I think they must do, then 93% of users who bothered to write a review are happy with their Note. Fair conclusion?

People in this and other forums tend to give the iPhone as an example of a perfect phone, but neither the iPhone 4 or 4S are as well-rated on Amazon UK as the Note.

Battery life is an issue with ALL of the more powerful phones. It has to be, because the manufacturers have a monkey-see-monkey-do approach to design, and have been competing to produce the slimmest phones, which simply doesn't leave room for a chunky battery. Take a look at the Blackberry forums to see how their fans are suffering, it's not just Android. Personally I like a chunky phone with a bit of heft to it, especially if that means running for days without charging. What benefit does a paper-thin phone offer me? None at all.

I don't have a Note, it's on my upgrade shortlist along with a couple of other models to replace my trusty Motorola Defy. Whatever I get, I won't be too much influenced by forum complainants. A smart phone is a computer, and no computer software is ever likely to appear perfect to all its users even if no real bugs are present. Given the complexity of a modern phone OS, and the possibly unpredictable ways that applications interface with it, I find the general usability of our phones to be impressive. True, it doesn't help that phone makers insist on loading their toys with resource-hogging bloatware, but there are ways around such things. Root the phone, load a plain vanilla ROM, make the device what you want it to be. If you pay for your phone cash up front or with a monthly contract it's an expensive little beast, so you may as well enjoy it.
 
Spiffing said:
True, it doesn't help that phone makers insist on loading their toys with resource-hogging bloatware, but there are ways around such things. Root the phone, load a plain vanilla ROM, make the device what you want it to be.
Click to expand...

Agreed on this, and your other points. As I've said, I love my Note, but out of the box I didn't rate it very highly - as a heavy user, battery life was so-so with GB and terrible with official 4.0.3&4. Nova launcher, while doing a fair job of disguising TouchWiz, doesn't compare to vanilla android. Very satisfying looking at the minimal software installed after flashing CM9, no Samsung bs that I hadn't a clue what it did. So slick and fast.

I concur about thicker phones ftw too - the Mugen 5400mah battery on mine makes it heavier, but it's actually comfier to hold, still fits fine in my pocket and I no longer have to even think about conserving battery life. I can do anything and everything all day long, masses of screen on time, ebook reading, browsing, downloading podcasts, tethering, watching video, Football Manager, gps usage. On my heaviest days I've never gone below 30% (which means about 1600mah battery left, the stock battery being 2500). Epic. I'm a train guard by the way, I get tonnes of downtime at work, hence the heavy usage. When I'm not at work, I can easily go 3 days without charging.

Doubt I'll buy anything other than Nexus phones in the future though (assuming they have at least 64gb storage and/or micro sd slots), I did feel kind of burnt by the Note for a while in it's off the shelf incarnation.
 
I'm surprised to see such a negative post. I've had issues here and there but so far it's the best Android device I've had (had Evo 4G and 3D and a few Archos POSs).
 
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