[mdlug-discuss] Cell Handset Recommendations

[Michael Mol]

On Wed, Aug 29, 2012 at 3:46 PM, Peter Bart <petertheplumber at att.net> wrote:
> On Wed, 29 Aug 2012 13:36:35 -0400
> Michael Mol <mikemol at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> On Wed, Aug 29, 2012 at 1:03 PM, Peter Bart <petertheplumber at att.net>
>> wrote:
>> > Hi All,
>> >         It looks like I'll finally be switching from Symbian to
>> >         Android, and I need a new handset posthaste. I have no love
>> > for Nokia anymore and I can't wait for Jolla or the new Geeksphone
>> >         to materialize. I would very much like to get a Motorola
>> > Droid Global for it's keyboard, but I don't see an easy way to get
>> > it to work on AT&T's network. Barring that I'm thinking a Motorola
>> >         Atrix 4G because I can get it's extended life battery. I
>> > can't really wait to see what Google does with Motorola Mobility
>> >         either, so I must pick from the current crop of handsets
>> > that will work, or can be made to work on AT&T's or T-Mobiles GSM
>> >         networks. I'm not averse to Cyanogenmod firmware, and will
>> > most likely root my handset and flash it if it's available.
>> >
>> >         Anyone have any thoughts?
>>
>> They're not high-end, but my wife have both had a lot of success with
>> LG-509s (also known as 'Optimus'). You can get them from eBay for
>> ~$100. I've had my hands on four. I botched one (though that might
>> have been a hardware failure), but the other three are in good shape.
>> One is mine, one is my wife's, one is my father-in-law's, and we're
>> going to get one for my mother-in-law, too.
>
>         Interesting, I've had no such good fortune with LG's handsets.
>         Throw in all by bad experiences with LG's other products and my
>         opinion of the company can't really get any lower.

Apparently, it's "not uncommon" for the microSD slot on the LG-509 to
go bad. That said, we've seen that in one out of four phones. That's a
better statistical sample than you'll get from most people. :)

It also helps that it's a cheap phone.

>>
>> They're pretty straightforward to root. Put on Titanium Backup, yank a
>> bunch of crufty apps from the ROM, reduce the screen brightness to
>> about 1/3 max, and suddenly your battery life is great with a decently
>> bright screen.
>>
>> I find that mine remains charged while tethering my work laptop, and I
>> manage to get work done while on the bus.
>>
>> Note: I haven't dealt directly with newer phones (though I do have a
>> Xoom running Jelly Bean). My only concern about newer phones would be
>> whether or not the apps and services I'd want to run on them consume
>> too much energy on them to allow me to use them while charging on USB.
>
>         That's why I'm looking at getting one with an available
>         extended life battery. Cell handset batteries are still the
>         same 1300-1500mah ones we used ten years ago. In the meantime
>         processors, screens, apps all gobble more juice. The Nokia E7
>         I have now doesn't even last all day anymore, but then that's
>         one of the many reasons it' going back.

FWIW, I carry a fully-charged spare battery in my wallet, in the event
that I need it. Otherwise, I have the phone charging whenever I'm in
the car or on my computer. Not because the phone strictly needs it,
but because I see no good reason not to top off. My wife disagrees,
but still leaves hers plugged in while at home or while we're sleeping
(she just doesn't top off in the car).

And, yeah, Li-ion energy density isn't going to get much better for
the foreseeable future. They're walking the fine line between powering
hungry devices for a decent length of time, and having you walk around
with a bomb in your pocket. The trick is finding a device which can
charge (or discharge very slowly) while still doing useful things. The
500mA limit USB places on that means that the LG-509 sits right on the
edge there; if you turn down the screen brightness, you can get away
with having Google Navigate running
((GPS+(wifi-for-location))+celldata+screen=juice) while plugged in. I
like "Battery Monitor Widget Pro" for monitoring battery
charge/discharge rate.

-- 
:wq