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Andrew Ryan

macrumors member
Original poster
Feb 22, 2011
31
0
I as debating on getting a Galaxy S3 or an iPhone 5 (currently have a iPhone 4), but was curious on how the Galaxy would integrate with my Macbook Pro as far as music, photos, backing up the phone, and etc.. goes.
 
I have a MBP and S3 - I have no problems transferring files to/from my S3. Android file transfer.

Don't listen to the Apple fanboy above.
 
I did some googling and found some info on it.

I think I was looking at the Galaxy 3 more than anything just as a change from the iPhone, but have heard some stories from friends about the difficulties they had syncing it to their apple computers.
 
If its anything like the Galaxy Nexus, you can sync media just fine. It wont be as "pretty" as the iPhone because iTunes wont recognize it, but you can just use MTP (the transfer method that ICS uses so you dont have to mount the SD card), mount the SD card and transfer stuff like a USB drive, or use Double Twist.
 
I as debating on getting a Galaxy S3 or an iPhone 5 (currently have a iPhone 4), but was curious on how the Galaxy would integrate with my Macbook Pro as far as music, photos, backing up the phone, and etc.. goes.

well its obviously not going to integrate as smoothly. backing up the phone and all that stuff is going to be relying solely on 3rd party apps like titanium backup on your phone.

for what its worth, the iphone 5 destroys the s3 in benchmarks, particularly graphics-wise. not to mention the iphone 5 isn't made of ****** cheap plastic.
 
well its obviously not going to integrate as smoothly. backing up the phone and all that stuff is going to be relying solely on 3rd party apps like titanium backup on your phone.

for what its worth, the iphone 5 destroys the s3 in benchmarks, particularly graphics-wise. not to mention the iphone 5 isn't made of ****** cheap plastic.



I don't know about all that. The only thing I noticed when I tried out the S3 at the store for awhile was that the screen was a little on the dark side. I like the finish, it looks sleek. I think they are pretty even when it comes to picture and video quality. I'm not running Crysis 2 at full resolution on my phone..

I am leaning towards trying out the S3 for a month (Verizon gives you 30 days) and if I don't like it, I can always take it back and exchange the phone for the i5. I just have to research a bit more on what I'll need to make the transition to the macbook a bit smoother.

I know nothing about the Android market, but I assume its comparable to the app store.
 
I did some googling and found some info on it.

I think I was looking at the Galaxy 3 more than anything just as a change from the iPhone, but have heard some stories from friends about the difficulties they had syncing it to their apple computers.

Basically you do not sync a android phone with a computer, you sync it with google( contacts, email, apps) a bit like iCloud. if you sync your info to google via your Mac it will come down to any android phone you buy. Is a slightly different concept in "backup"

For Music and other thing you buy or DL via iTunes, iphone sure have a advantage. If you already have a well manage libary in you Mac it will not be easy.

But if your media ( music or video ) is Download via other source and is in RMVB/MKV/AVI/TS format, then Android have the advantage. It can play almost any video and music file( with a video app like MX player). Files can be copied directly to the SD card, and all can play directly. With the superior Hardware of the GSIII it can take 64gb or larger SDXC card formatted in exFAT in in internal slot. I have tried playing 1080P 10000bps video ripped from bluray disc and it play smoothly without lag. Also you can even plug a external usb HDD in exFAT to it directly to play other files directly.

I am using a iPhone 3GS for my email and music and phone, while I use my GSIII to watch tv dramas or BDrip movies , or browse website with the dolphine browser. may be replace the 3GS later when 5s(?) come out or when 5 become more common. The petite thief here will put a brick to my head if I use a IP5 on the street(price is getting to 70% above list price now).
 
For music and videos, doubleTwist makes it very easy to sync with your iTunes library (you can also sync Photos and other things). The application is free both for Android and the Mac and you can sync everything wirelessly.

There are other free apps like Airdroid (Kies Air is a similar app) that allow you to easily transfer files to and from the S3. They also allow you to make a lot other cool things as well. Airdroid works wirelessly via a web browser and it is very easy to use and setup. You can upload files to any folder on your S3 or download them from it to your computer.

For things like contacts, email, calendars and the like, the best option is to sync them all with your Google account (Google also backs up all your app data and settings). But if you use iCloud there are other options as mentioned by the previous poster.
 
depending on the OS you're using on ur macbook. For mac there's android file transfer which uses simple MTP drag and drop while for bootcamp windows its simply mounting as mass storage or using the myriad other MTP based solutions available. Conversely you can get a SD card adapter and plug in ur microsd into the sd card slot on ur macbook or an external usb card reader.

There's just endless flexibility in the way you want to manipulate your data, you're not stuck to just one solution as on the iOS/iTunes platform.
 
I don't know about all that. The only thing I noticed when I tried out the S3 at the store for awhile was that the screen was a little on the dark side. I like the finish, it looks sleek. I think they are pretty even when it comes to picture and video quality. I'm not running Crysis 2 at full resolution on my phone..

I am leaning towards trying out the S3 for a month (Verizon gives you 30 days) and if I don't like it, I can always take it back and exchange the phone for the i5. I just have to research a bit more on what I'll need to make the transition to the macbook a bit smoother.

I know nothing about the Android market, but I assume its comparable to the app store.

"don't know all about" what? Just look sat anandtechs preliminary benchmarks for the iPhone 5. It easily smokes the s3, especially at gpu tasks. Not sure how testing it at a store for a few min refutes this.
 
"don't know all about" what? Just look sat anandtechs preliminary benchmarks for the iPhone 5. It easily smokes the s3, especially at gpu tasks. Not sure how testing it at a store for a few min refutes this.

But the speed doesn't matter, right? Isn't that what iPhone people have been saying for years? It's the experience, not the chip speed… But now it's about the speed? At least until the S4 is released...
 
I've recently converted to a macbook, but would never get an iPhone. If syncing is all that you're worried about, I would recommend you stop worrying. Google's backup service is the best. When I got my galaxy nexus after having used an HTC desire, I simply booted the phone, filled in my google account info and not even a minute later all my contacts, email, calendars etc. were synced and ready to be used on my new device. Afterwards, you can let your macbook sync with your google account. There is no need to sync an Android device with your macbook, because both devices can sync with Google's servers on the fly. Therefore, any info you change on either your macbook or android phone will near instantaneously be updated on the other device.

As has been mentioned before here, the advantage of an iPhone is the syncing of your iTunes library. Other than that... I myself dislike iTunes greatly, so I'm biased regarding that aspect, though I can imagine some people might actually like it.

In the end, pick the device you like all around. Don't worry about syncing, that's covered on both iOS and Android.
 
As has been mentioned before here, the advantage of an iPhone is the syncing of your iTunes library.

And for that you can just use free apps like doubleTwist which can wirelessly sync your music playlist and videos from iTunes into your Android device.
 
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