Nexus One switchers?

[GfPQqmcRKUvP]

I just switched from the iPhone 3GS to the ATT version Nexus One.

Pros
-Screen is amazing
-Customization of the feel of the device
-Fast 3G (I'm getting 1.3 down and 1.1 up)
-You can search for words on webpages.
-Feel of the device makes the iPhone feel like a cheap plastic toy
-Widgets!
-Notification handling is far better than the iPhone
-Voice recognition wherever you can type is great
-Integration with everything google
-Great multi-tasking

Cons
-Android needs to be polished, a lot
-Keyboard is taking a while to get used to
-Screen is not as sensitive as iPhone's. This is a pretty big drawback.
-I'm not getting as good of battery life

Let me expand on Android needing to be polished:

-Calendar app is terrible. Horrendous. It doesn't have search and the different views are completely useless. I can't stress this enough
-If I tap in a text box (I'm looking at you, messaging application) the keyboard should pop up every time
-Screen sensitivity makes it hard to type/click small links once in a while
-Copy/Paste is pathetic on Android, plain and simple.
-Switching between windows in the browser is pain. It doesn't even tell you which tab you're on so sometimes you have to guess which window to close.
-This has a 1ghz processor. There is no way that an iPhone should be smoother at scrolling but it is.
-Apps aren't as well-developed. This should change, but they just aren't now. Doesn't matter to me much. I think iPhone apps are largely useless because they are confined to themselves; they can't interact with anything else on the phone
-If you want to get non-gmail mail, you have to use a separate app. This separate app is not searchable.


That's all I can think of. Feel free to ask me any questions if you have them.

Overall, I like it a lot. If Apple introduced an iPhone with multi-tasking, new notifications, better screen, and updated UI, I think I might go back to the iPhone. The screen sensitivity and how fast I am at typing on an iPhone are the main reasons to go back.

 

[ajohnson253]

I just switched from the iPhone 3GS to the ATT version Nexus One.

Pros
-Screen is amazing
-Customization of the feel of the device
-Fast 3G (I'm getting 1.3 down and 1.1 up)
-You can search for words on webpages.
-Feel of the device makes the iPhone feel like a cheap plastic toy
-Widgets!
-Notification handling is far better than the iPhone
-Voice recognition wherever you can type is great
-Integration with everything google
-Great multi-tasking

Cons
-Android needs to be polished, a lot
-Keyboard is taking a while to get used to
-Screen is not as sensitive as iPhone's. This is a pretty big drawback.
-I'm not getting as good of battery life

Let me expand on Android needing to be polished:

-Calendar app is terrible. Horrendous. It doesn't have search and the different views are completely useless. I can't stress this enough
-If I tap in a text box (I'm looking at you, messaging application) the keyboard should pop up every time
-Screen sensitivity makes it hard to type/click small links once in a while
-Copy/Paste is pathetic on Android, plain and simple.
-Switching between windows in the browser is pain. It doesn't even tell you which tab you're on so sometimes you have to guess which window to close.
-This has a 1ghz processor. There is no way that an iPhone should be smoother at scrolling but it is.
-Apps aren't as well-developed. This should change, but they just aren't now. Doesn't matter to me much. I think iPhone apps are largely useless because they are confined to themselves; they can't interact with anything else on the phone
-If you want to get non-gmail mail, you have to use a separate app. This separate app is not searchable.


That's all I can think of. Feel free to ask me any questions if you have them.

Overall, I like it a lot. If Apple introduced an iPhone with multi-tasking, new notifications, better screen, and updated UI, I think I might go back to the iPhone. The screen sensitivity and how fast I am at typing on an iPhone are the main reasons to go back.

I feel exactly the same as You do.

 

[sysiphus]

Your list is pretty reasonable, badandy. I also just switched (just got my Euro-style HTC Hero with ATT 3G) over the weekend, and have played both with a modified Nexus ROM (to try 2.1 with Google navi etc) and a mostly stock 1.5 with HTC Sense ROM. First thing I noticed was that my battery life was orders of magnitude better on the 1.5 rom, though that may be just the result of using a majorly hacked ROM versus an almost stock one (stock but with WiFi tethering enabled, etc).

Your list of pros pretty nearly matches mine, but I'd add the following to it--the ability to mount the device as a mass-storage USB drive on any computer! VERY convenient.

As for the cons:
-The stock Android keyboard is a bit awkward, but the HTC version is very good. Not quite as good as the iPhone's, perhaps, but still very good. I think you can install the HTC one on your phone with minimal work, if you're interested.
-Battery life--this is device-specific to some degree, I'm sure. Running my Hero on 1.5, I can get through a 12hr+ day of uptime with moderate usage and still have 60%+ left at the end of the day...constant Gmail polling, 3G on, WiFi and Bluetooth off. (3G is fast enough that WiFi is redundant for me most of the time).
-Screen sensitivity--again, device-specific to some degree. It's a bit different than an iPhone, but a couple days' adjustment leaves me just fine. I'm not sure I'd say one is massively better than the other, but your mileage/hardware may vary.
-Polish--first off, the HTC Sense UI seems much cleaner/better thought out than the stock Android layout. Clearly, a decent bit of time/money was put into improving things by HTC. You might try adding it in on your device. It won't change some of your application-specific problems, but I find the overall interface very pleasing.

As you can see, most of my differences of opinion are software/hardware specific (N1 vs Hero, stock 2.1 vs Sense-enabled 1.5), but overall, I think we're on the same page. I'd also freely admit that Android is hardly perfect, but in my book, well worth the quirks for the power/flexibility it offers over iPhone, while still providing a much user-friendlier experience than WinMo or Symbian. I was a Symbian freak for a long time--both UIQ and S60 (ironically, I thought UIQ was far better than S60, which prevailed), but I finally got on the Android bandwagon/moved full-time away from the iPhone when...I head that the MLB At Bat app was available on Android. Now, does that make me a bit shallow or what?

 

[Cycom]

I just switched from the iPhone 3GS to the ATT version Nexus One.

Pros
-Screen is amazing
-Customization of the feel of the device
-Fast 3G (I'm getting 1.3 down and 1.1 up)
-You can search for words on webpages.
-Feel of the device makes the iPhone feel like a cheap plastic toy
-Widgets!
-Notification handling is far better than the iPhone
-Voice recognition wherever you can type is great
-Integration with everything google
-Great multi-tasking

Cons
-Android needs to be polished, a lot
-Keyboard is taking a while to get used to
-Screen is not as sensitive as iPhone's. This is a pretty big drawback.
-I'm not getting as good of battery life

Let me expand on Android needing to be polished:

-Calendar app is terrible. Horrendous. It doesn't have search and the different views are completely useless. I can't stress this enough
-If I tap in a text box (I'm looking at you, messaging application) the keyboard should pop up every time
-Screen sensitivity makes it hard to type/click small links once in a while
-Copy/Paste is pathetic on Android, plain and simple.
-Switching between windows in the browser is pain. It doesn't even tell you which tab you're on so sometimes you have to guess which window to close.
-This has a 1ghz processor. There is no way that an iPhone should be smoother at scrolling but it is.
-Apps aren't as well-developed. This should change, but they just aren't now. Doesn't matter to me much. I think iPhone apps are largely useless because they are confined to themselves; they can't interact with anything else on the phone
-If you want to get non-gmail mail, you have to use a separate app. This separate app is not searchable.


That's all I can think of. Feel free to ask me any questions if you have them.

Overall, I like it a lot. If Apple introduced an iPhone with multi-tasking, new notifications, better screen, and updated UI, I think I might go back to the iPhone. The screen sensitivity and how fast I am at typing on an iPhone are the main reasons to go back.

Ah, see, these are the points I'm considering. Having had an iPhone for 2 years and then switching to a BB 9700 (terrible phone), I was reminded why I missed the iPhone. Google Voice with the N1 is REALLY tempting me, though.

What do you guys mean by "smooth scrolling" on the N1

 

[chris975d]

Ah, see, these are the points I'm considering. Having had an iPhone for 2 years and then switching to a BB 9700 (terrible phone), I was reminded why I missed the iPhone. Google Voice with the N1 is REALLY tempting me, though.

What do you guys mean by "smooth scrolling" on the N1

I'm not sure what some people are referring to when they talk of lack of smooth scrolling on the N1, as mine as been absolutely iPhone 3GS like from the start. No matter how fast I attempt to scroll, it's kept up and rendered everything instantly, making the scrolling as smooth as silk. Maybe there are differing experiences between handsets? I know that I experienced a charging and battery life issue where my battery would take up to 5 hours to charge from 20% to 100%, even on the wall charger, and my battery life was sub-par compared to other users reports. Apparently it was all software/firmware related however, because since I've rooted and flashed the cyanogenmod ROM (firmware) on my device, it charges to 100% in less than 90 minutes, and the battery life is MUCH extended. And that's even before I installed the CPU throttling app that has added even more time to my battery life. I've also had absolutely no screen sensitivity issues with my device either, whereas others have. If anything, I think it's far more sensitive than my 3GS's screen. I can click very small links with ease that I couldn't hit on the 3GS until I zoomed in. For instance, on MacRumors forums, I can hit the page numbers to move between different pages of a thread in the full zoomed out view within the browser, and am accurate about 9 times out of 10. Those are pretty dang small to me when looking at them fully zoomed out, and are no trouble to hit at all.

 

[Cycom]

I'm not sure what some people are referring to when they talk of lack of smooth scrolling on the N1, as mine as been absolutely iPhone 3GS like from the start. No matter how fast I attempt to scroll, it's kept up and rendered everything instantly, making the scrolling as smooth as silk. Maybe there are differing experiences between handsets? I know that I experienced a charging and battery life issue where my battery would take up to 5 hours to charge from 20% to 100%, even on the wall charger, and my battery life was sub-par compared to other users reports. Apparently it was all software/firmware related however, because since I've rooted and flashed the cyanogenmod ROM (firmware) on my device, it charges to 100% in less than 90 minutes, and the battery life is MUCH extended. And that's even before I installed the CPU throttling app that has added even more time to my battery life. I've also had absolutely no screen sensitivity issues with my device either, whereas others have. If anything, I think it's far more sensitive than my 3GS's screen. I can click very small links with ease that I couldn't hit on the 3GS until I zoomed in. For instance, on MacRumors forums, I can hit the page numbers to move between different pages of a thread in the full zoomed out view within the browser, and am accurate about 9 times out of 10. Those are pretty dang small to me when looking at them fully zoomed out, and are no trouble to hit at all.

This is certainly good to hear. So it's worth it to install the cyanogenmod? Does it void warranty?

 

[tjp888]

This is certainly good to hear. So it's worth it to install the cyanogenmod? Does it void warranty?

Yes it may be worth it and yes it voids the warranty. Also, from what I understand, is there's no going back. Once a phone is rooted, it can't go back to the stock ROM. Hence, I am waiting before I play around with my N1.

 

[chris975d]

This is certainly good to hear. So it's worth it to install the cyanogenmod? Does it void warranty?

It does void the warranty, as you have to root the device to install it (rooting cannot be undone). If depends on your situation as to whether I'd recommend installing it, just because of the warranty issue. If you are fortunate enough that having to outright replace the phone (buy a full cost replacement) if a problem occurred down the road, then by all means install it! If this is your one and only phone, and can't take the chance to void the warranty or afford to have to replace it full cost down the road, then don't.
That out of the way, if you can afford to void the warranty, do it! It's a night and day difference with the cyanogenmod. First, it has the "himem" tweak installed, which lets you use all of the 512Mb of RAM of the N1 (out of the box you don't get to use it all, only 256Mb I think). My free RAM went from an average of 30-80Mb free when multitasking with the stock ROM, to 200-250Mb free when doing the same tasks with cyanogenmod. That alone helps speed greatly. Plus, when rooted, you can customize to your hearts content. The SetCPU program allows you to set custom profiles to throttle your CPU speed whenever you see fit, like throttling it back to 300 or so Mhz when the phone is asleep (no need in running at 1Ghz when sleeping), or throttling back when reaching a set battery life percentage. Plus, according to my research on the cyanogenmod, it contains the Neon ARM floating point optimizations (not present on the stock ROM) that should greatly help with graphics (games, menu transitions, possibly SCROLLING). The lack of NEON optimization in the stock setup is the reason that some game developers have said that the 3GS is faster than the N1 in gaming, as the 3GS has the code present (at least from what I've understood in my reading). The latest cyanogenmod makes the N1 a true beast, and actually seems far more stable than the stock ROM, however that's possible. I've had no unexpected program crashes/closes since using it, and I've been pushing my phone to the limits testing it. I had several when using the stock ROM.
Ask some of the others that have installed it here like Vandam, lostprophet (even though I think he's switched back to the iPhone) of their opinions on the cyanogenmod. I think it really brings out the true power and capabilities of this phone, but at the cost of a voided warranty. To me it was worth it, as I will always have my 3GS to fall back on should my N1 blow up, and I'm sure I'll at least try the next gen iPhone for sh*ts and giggles, as I'm a gadget whore anyway. But given Apple's lack of revolutionary iPhone releases since the 1st iPhone, I'm not sure if a new gen iPhone will make me leave this phone.

 

[ViViDboarder]

Yes it may be worth it and yes it voids the warranty. Also, from what I understand, is there's no going back. Once a phone is rooted, it can't go back to the stock ROM. Hence, I am waiting before I play around with my N1.

I'm pretty sure you can go back... but they can still detect you've been rooted. Unlike the iPhone where restoring will wipe out all traces.

 

[ChazUK]

I'm pretty sure you can go back... but they can still detect you've been rooted. Unlike the iPhone where restoring will wipe out all traces.

Looking at this guide you can go back to the stock firmware but the bootloader will be unlocked permanently (unless some clever XDA Dev finds a way to re-lock the bootloader).

As I think the two year warranty outdoes the benefits of rooting, I'll be sticking with the stock firmware for now.

 

[chris975d]

Looking at this guide you can go back to the stock firmware but the bootloader will be unlocked permanently (unless some clever XDA Dev finds a way to re-lock the bootloader).

As I think the two year warranty outdoes the benefits of rooting, I'll be sticking with the stock firmware for now.

This is what I was saying...you have to weigh the value you place on the warranty. This is an individual thing. To me, I don't care about it. If it goes bad, I'll replace it with another N1, or whatever is better at the time. Spending money on electronics is my vice. Hell, doing a recent total just on the cases I've bought for my 3G/3GS showed me that I've spent a touch over $1000 in the past 12 months just on cases. I figure if I can spend that kind of amount on stupid cases, I can replace this phone if I hose it or it falls apart. But, with the many HTC built devices I've had over the years, I've never once had a hardware/warranty related issue. They seem to have their sh*t together building quality hardware, and just feeling the N1 seems that it's no exception. Compared to the three 3G's I had, and two 3G's I went through. I only purchased one of each, the rest were warranty replacements.

 

[tjp888]

Hell, doing a recent total just on the cases I've bought for my 3G/3GS showed me that I've spent a touch over $1000 in the past 12 months just on cases.

Chris, you are an animal

 

[chris975d]

Chris, you are an animal

No, its called absolute stupidity! Doesn't seem like a lot when its just $30 here, $50 there, but when you do that a few times each month, it adds up. And to think what I could have used that money on....well...it'd probably have been another phone, or another Mac, or something else stupid. At least its not drugs and alcohol....although that might be more fun!

 

[ajohnson253]

Looking at this guide you can go back to the stock firmware but the bootloader will be unlocked permanently (unless some clever XDA Dev finds a way to re-lock the bootloader).

As I think the two year warranty outdoes the benefits of rooting, I'll be sticking with the stock firmware for now.

Had no clue that Google would be able to tell that it was rooted even when restored that sucks. Makes me have No choice but to just hod off for a little bit too and run stock.
running even a stock N1 with custom Widgets and background is just enough for me for sure coming from an iPhone 3GS.

 

[chris975d]

Had no clue that Google would be able to tell that it was rooted even when restored that sucks. Makes me have No choice but to just hod off for a little bit too and run stock.
running even a stock N1 with custom Widgets and background is just enough for me for sure coming from an iPhone 3GS.

Yeah, it does suck, but rooting isn't reversable as of yet. It even shows on the initial power up screen as a big grey unlocked padlock, and I'm sure it shows up in the code as well. Maybe some of the genius hackers that do all this amazing stuff can figure out how to undo it eventually.

 

[kevinof]

I sent my hero back to HTC for repair (UK) , rooted and Modaco v3.2 installed on it. It came back fixed and a note to say that they had restored my modaco os after a hardware reset!

I guess they took a copy, reset the hardware, fixed the problem and restored.

 

[ViViDboarder]

Yeah, it does suck, but rooting isn't reversable as of yet. It even shows on the initial power up screen as a big grey unlocked padlock, and I'm sure it shows up in the code as well. Maybe some of the genius hackers that do all this amazing stuff can figure out how to undo it eventually.

From what I've been reading, it's not likely...

They need to somehow find the difference between the memory maps of a rooted and non rooted boot loader. The issue is they can't get a dump of the non rooted one without rooting it! Oh well, post above me had some good news anyway.

 

[DoNoHarm]

Are you guys following the macrumors story up right now on flash integration on chrome? I think this is a first step towards making flash available on the nexus one. It's pretty incredible to see how far smartphone have come in the past few years and evev just the last 6 months.

 

[ajohnson253]

I sent my hero back to HTC for repair (UK) , rooted and Modaco v3.2 installed on it. It came back fixed and a note to say that they had restored my modaco os after a hardware reset!

I guess they took a copy, reset the hardware, fixed the problem and restored.

So you were rooted and you sent it in and they didn't care it seems like. Maybe they just don't pay attention, could be good or bad I suppose.

 

[tjp888]

Are you guys following the macrumors story up right now on flash integration on chrome? I think this is a first step towards making flash available on the nexus one. It's pretty incredible to see how far smartphone have come in the past few years and evev just the last 6 months.

That is good news. I assume we won't see this until a new version of Android is released? From what I can gather it looks like it has to be bundled in the ROM, like in the new Desire.

 

[Knowlege Bomb]

Yeah, it does suck, but rooting isn't reversable as of yet. It even shows on the initial power up screen as a big grey unlocked padlock, and I'm sure it shows up in the code as well. Maybe some of the genius hackers that do all this amazing stuff can figure out how to undo it eventually.

From what I've read it's physically impossible because a hardware circuit is fried during the process. No way to reverse that. Once that big grey padlock is there, it ain't goin' away.

 

[ViViDboarder]

From what I've read it's physically impossible because a hardware circuit is fried during the process. No way to reverse that. Once that big grey padlock is there, it ain't goin' away.

From reading on XDA it doesn't sound like any hardware issue... It's just a flipped security bit in the memory.

 

[kdarling]

So you were rooted and you sent it in and they didn't care it seems like. Maybe they just don't pay attention, could be good or bad I suppose.

Since they left a note that they put back his hacks, clearly they noticed

Most phone makers have no problem if you want to modify their devices to your liking.

Dunno if they still have them, but a few years ago HTC had forums which even had a hacking section. It was not officially supported, but they didn't censor people either.

It also didn't take long for someone to hack Microsoft's WPS7 emulator and install it on an HTC HD2 this week. Microsoft just shrugged and said, "We expected something like that to happen."

 

[boldfire]

Just moved from a Nexus One back to my iPhone 3G. I didn't get along with it at all.

 

[ViViDboarder]

Since they left a note that they put back his hacks, clearly they noticed

Most phone makers have no problem if you want to modify their devices to your liking.

Dunno if they still have them, but a few years ago HTC had forums which even had a hacking section. It was not officially supported, but they didn't censor people either.

It also didn't take long for someone to hack Microsoft's WPS7 emulator and install it on an HTC HD2 this week. Microsoft just shrugged and said, "We expected something like that to happen."

If you think about it... What's it to the hardware manufacturer? They already sold you the device. They aren't getting any more money from you until you wear it out.

As far as WP7S goes... I'm pretty sure M$ expects most of their software to be ripped off. I think installing that on the HD2 could hurt M$ because users may not be upgrading to the next WP7S phones if they already have one, but I doubt this will be wide-spread anyway. At worst people start developing new WP7S apps and putting videos up around the net. Free press.