Purchase advice please

[hajimeabc]

About a month ago, I decided to wait for the ICS to come out before purchasing the Galaxy Note in Hong Kong. After waiting for such a long time, ICS was released but a lot of users in HK have been complaining several issues since then. I also heard complains of a few common issues (e.g. poor battery life, worse response time) from users in other countries. However, there are also people who are satisfied with the update. What suggestion do you have?

I can buy the Note in Canada, HK or China. Not sure if I could get an international, unlocked version without signing for a contract with a carrier in Canada.

If the issues are due to bugs in the ICS, all the users should have the same problems. However, some users have reported that after the upgrade, their Note performs better than before. I am confused.

I am currently in HK. As some of you may know, usually the stores here do not have satisfaction guarantee for full refund.

Another possibility is just to forget about the Note and go for the S3 which comes with the ICS. However, there could be other issues.

Any purchase advice appreciated. Thanks.

 

[touringhaggis]

All phones and all OSs have issues which is why you will see many threads on all forums complaining about this and that. Some people are effected more than others. This is normal because some people customise their phones more than others. For example, I am still using GB on my Note and I experience most of the reported bugs (sleep of death, force closes, random reboots, stange data connectivity issues, laggy home button, general lag, etc.), but very rarely. Given that I use my phone a lot this does not bother me. Others see these problems more frequently (I assume) because they use different apps in different ways.

This is why you see varying reports on this forum. Usually the majority will be reporting problems since people come here for help (mostly). Some people will post "it works fine for me" replies, but normally 90% of people with working phones will not, since they don't need to visit a forum if they are happy with their phone.

All that said, I cannot really help you with your choice. I personally would take the Note over the S3 becuase I like the bigger screen and don't have the need for a quad core processor (yet). The stylus I have used on occasion so I will be keeping that, but I know others find it useless.

I would camp out in the shop and make sure you are happy before buying. Not much help, but the best I can offer I am afraid...

Good luck with your selection!

Regards,
Eric Ritchie.

 

[hajimeabc]

I have tried the Note+ICS in several stores. The performance varies. Today, I tried both Note+ICS and a S3 in a store side by side. Despite what others said, I did not feel the S3 any faster. (Is there something wrong with me?) In fact, when I took the video using both devices, the video quality of the S3 was worse (darker) than the Note. If I can choose between: a) Note with GB, b) Note with ICS-preinstalled, which one should I get?

I do not know if Note with ICS pre-installed has the same issues as Note upgraded from GB. I heard that once ICS has been installed, there is no way to downgrade to GB. I do not have enough data to make the decision.

Any advice greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[touringhaggis]

It is possible to downgrade by using the same procedure as flashing a custom ROM. However, I would not attempt it before the ICS super brick problem has been resolved otherwise you may end up with an expensive paperweight.

Very interesting to hear about your comparison with the SIII. I was starting to get jealous of the better camera and ICS smoothness. No, I don't think there is something wrong with you. Everyone experiences things their own way (being unique) and there is nothing wrong with that.

About enough data to make a selection: I am not sure that you are going to collect that without living with multiple phones for several weeks (like professional reviewers do). I cannot help you either (really) since I only have the one device and I have my own experiences with it. I guess you are just going to have to take the plunge and not look back. I personally love my Note with GB and would buy one again (I have even refused the ICS update). But that is me.

Regards,
Eric Ritchie.