Database Develop

How reliable is this phone?

I found one on Craig's List and my girlfriend desperately needs a new phone. I plan on sticking to stock OS and not rooting or customizing it because it's for her and I don't want to risk bricking her.
I just want to know, how reliable is this phone?

Personally, this is my last Samsung phone. So... I wouldn't recommend it.

Essenar said:
I found one on Craig's List and my girlfriend desperately needs a new phone. I plan on sticking to stock OS and not rooting or customizing it because it's for her and I don't want to risk bricking her.
I just want to know, how reliable is this phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got a Captivate for my gf and she loves it, but the stock OS pissed her off due to lagging and bloatware.
We installed Cognition 2.3b8 which was very easy and now she really loves it as her daily driver. All you do is put an update.zip for Clockwork on the root of SD. Reboot into oem recovery, reinstall packages twice to get to Clockwork, then wipe data and flash Cognition. Couldn't be easier.
Honestly, if you can find a Nexus One for AT&T (if you have AT&T the T-mobile version will be Edge only!! You need an AT&T Nexus One) I think that's your best bet, but with a little bit of modding and care the Captivate is a great phone. My gf LOVES the giant screen and beautiful display.
That said, the more I learn about it the more pissed off I am with Samsung. Different revisions, ODIN, Kies, Download Mode, etc. Rooting this thing is way more complicated than it needs to be. I'm running a MT4G and SOOOO glad I didn't buy the Vibrant. Shudder...

The only problem I've ever had with my cappy is the GPS, which, after reading the GPS fixes thread has been absolutely perfect.
To me this is the perfect phone. Fast, reliable, pretty. I don't even want anything faster anymore. If phones peaked in speed right now and started focusing strictly on battery life (I get about 1.5-2 days right now, I'd like to get 3-5), I'd be perfectly happy with that.

Craig's List? Buyer beware!

Here is where I am at:
This phone is probably not the best choice if you are planning on giving it to your wife without a custom ROM. If you plan on giving it to you wife with a ROM it is a good choice regardless of what ROM you choose however it is better if you use one that is as close to stock as possible: cognition, perception, or Andromeda (1.00).

cappysw10 said:
Craig's List? Buyer beware!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've got several great phones off CL. Do your due diligence as a buyer and you'll be just fine.

If you can get it for a decent price, then go for it.
Here's a simple pro & con list:
Pros
-Super AMOLED screen makes pictures and videos gorgeous
-1 GHz Processor that can be overclocked to 1.28GHz (stable) and undervolted to improve battery performance
-The xda devs are constantly providing the Captivate support that Samsung has failed to give us.
-Did i mention the Super AMOLED screen? Yes, yes I did.
-Swype makes texting a lot more fun to type on the phone once you get past the 1-minute learning curve
Cons
-Developed by Samsung and so the customer support for the phone is terrible
(see: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=913045)
-The stock AT&T Rom is filled with bloatware that takes up space and attempts to get you to spend more money on AT&T services.
-AT&T has disabled the ability to sideload apps (install apps from outside of the market) on the stock ROM, and so you won't be able to install third-party apps if/when you come across them.
-No official 2.2 froyo release from Samsung, despite promises from them as well as AT&T to have it released by the end of 2010 (this is when the store rep told me to expect the update when i bought my phone. derp).
-Some GPS Issues
Conclusion based on my personal opinion.
Overall, I love this phone and I'm glad I chose it over the iPhone 4 due to the ridiculous customization available. However, if not for the xda devs creating amazing custom ROMs, I would have probably returned it for the original Jesus phone.
My advice? Get the phone, pick out a launcher from the market (LauncherPro, ADW Launcher, or for the minimalist: Zeam) and grab handcent while you're at it. Then give her the phone and she should be happy with it.
More advice? Sure. Root the phone, flash Cog 3.02 onto it with the firebird 2/Glitterball kernel and JK4 modem.
Sorry if this post seems a bit jumbled and scattered. I'm currently doing about 4 different things at once and posting from my Computer Class at the local community college haha

Dont' buy it. GPS problems, shutdown issues, and, based on the general lack of reliability so far, probably more issues to come as the phone ages. If it weren't for the beautiful display and the custom ROMs here on xda I'd have little good to say about my phone. Since you don't plan on modifications the screen is really all you'd get. Does that screen outweigh the hardware problems I've noted?

Phateless said:
Rooting this thing is way more complicated than it needs to be.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
SuperOneClick -- The program is called "SuperOneClick". That is literally all it takes to gain root on a SGS phone. So, personally, I think rooting is not nearly as complicated as it could be!

yourname146 said:
SuperOneClick -- The program is called "SuperOneClick". That is literally all it takes to gain root on a SGS phone. So, personally, I think rooting is not nearly as complicated as it could be!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let me rephrase that. Custom ROMs are more complicated than they need to be. I've used SOC on my MT3G, works well. It's ODIN, Kies and manually flashing modems and kernels that annoys me. I've flashed radios and roms on my mt3g and I'm comfortable with fastboot and adb so I'm not a total noob. HTC just seems simpler to me, but maybe that's because I'm used to it.

The only beef I have had with this phone is the GPS issue. otherwise it's a great phone. Beautiful screen, sleek design and fast with a good ROM such as Cognition.

I've decided I'm either going to get her a Nokia N900 or an iPhone (some variation). I can't put a phone in her hands with such a gamble on the GPS (There's no guarantee the fix works and no way to identify which Captivates will work and won't work). Especially since this phone is purchased used and won't have a warranty on it.
I wish her sister would make up her mind about AT&T. If she decided to stay with AT&T I could just buy her something new. If she decided to leave AT&T, I could buy her a new Android device with another carrier.

Essenar said:
I've decided I'm either going to get her a Nokia N900 or an iPhone (some variation). I can't put a phone in her hands with such a gamble on the GPS (There's no guarantee the fix works and no way to identify which Captivates will work and won't work). Especially since this phone is purchased used and won't have a warranty on it.
I wish her sister would make up her mind about AT&T. If she decided to stay with AT&T I could just buy her something new. If she decided to leave AT&T, I could buy her a new Android device with another carrier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can tell you from experience, **** AT&T! T-mobile has buy one get one free for MT4G right now, I have no clue why on earth you would want to stay with AT&T.
Seriously, I have been with T-mobile for 5 years and I'm in love with their service. Every time I call I get an AMERICAN rep on the phone in 5 mins tops.

pizz0wn3d said:
If you can get it for a decent price, then go for it.
Here's a simple pro & con list:
Pros
-Super AMOLED screen makes pictures and videos gorgeous
-1 GHz Processor that can be overclocked to 1.28GHz (stable) and undervolted to improve battery performance
-The xda devs are constantly providing the Captivate support that Samsung has failed to give us.
-Did i mention the Super AMOLED screen? Yes, yes I did.
-Swype makes texting a lot more fun to type on the phone once you get past the 1-minute learning curve
Cons
-Developed by Samsung and so the customer support for the phone is terrible
(see: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=913045)
-The stock AT&T Rom is filled with bloatware that takes up space and attempts to get you to spend more money on AT&T services.
-AT&T has disabled the ability to sideload apps (install apps from outside of the market) on the stock ROM, and so you won't be able to install third-party apps if/when you come across them.
-No official 2.2 froyo release from Samsung, despite promises from them as well as AT&T to have it released by the end of 2010 (this is when the store rep told me to expect the update when i bought my phone. derp).
-Some GPS Issues
Conclusion based on my personal opinion.
Overall, I love this phone and I'm glad I chose it over the iPhone 4 due to the ridiculous customization available. However, if not for the xda devs creating amazing custom ROMs, I would have probably returned it for the original Jesus phone.
My advice? Get the phone, pick out a launcher from the market (LauncherPro, ADW Launcher, or for the minimalist: Zeam) and grab handcent while you're at it. Then give her the phone and she should be happy with it.
More advice? Sure. Root the phone, flash Cog 3.02 onto it with the firebird 2/Glitterball kernel and JK4 modem.
Sorry if this post seems a bit jumbled and scattered. I'm currently doing about 4 different things at once and posting from my Computer Class at the local community college haha
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a very fair and accurate assessment.
Absolutely get this phone if you're comfortable rooting the phone and installing custom ROMs, launchers, etc. The phone will run markedly better than stock and will be a dream to use.
If you're not technically inclined, and need rely on $am$ung and AT$T for your firmware updates, get a different android phone. Updates are either never coming or will be over half a year behind and quite possibly bugged and broken even if you do get them.

kingtz said:
This is a very fair and accurate assessment.
Absolutely get this phone if you're comfortable rooting the phone and installing custom ROMs, launchers, etc. The phone will run markedly better than stock and will be a dream to use.
If you're not technically inclined, and need rely on $am$ung and AT$T for your firmware updates, get a different android phone. Updates are either never coming or will be over half a year behind and quite possibly bugged and broken even if you do get them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks
I feel like I should mention that I'm now using Exists Suckerpunch kernel and it's... Well... Amazing. OC/UV support with speedmod's battery battery tweaks is pretty much the best thing ever. And exists (pretty cool guy, eh made my favorite kernel ever and doesn't afraid of anything) updates so often I barely have time to find and complain about any bugs that happen to slip past.
This phone is quite captivating indeed.
Herp derp Captivate XDA App

Phateless said:
I've got several great phones off CL. Do your due diligence as a buyer and you'll be just fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Me too. That said out of the box the Captivate is a very frustrating phone to use. The GPS is spotty and You won't have full access to it's super fast Gee Bees unless you install a custom ROM.

I ended up getting her an iPhone. I know guys, I know.
To be honest, I didn't feel comfortable giving her a phone with spotty GPS as this will be her primary GPS unit.
Reading the custom rod and GPS thread gave me no assurance that doing the fix and rooting with a custom rom would fix the issue.
I have enough problems dealing with my MyTouch 4g that you may see me on a Bionic or iPhone with Verizon anyway.
But thanks for the advice. I may root and mod her sisters Captivate to score points because I heard she has had for warranty replacements lol.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

gunnyman said:
Me too. That said out of the box the Captivate is a very frustrating phone to use. The GPS is spotty and You won't have full access to it's super fast Gee Bees unless you install a custom ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Totally agree.
Essenar said:
I ended up getting her an iPhone. I know guys, I know.
To be honest, I didn't feel comfortable giving her a phone with spotty GPS as this will be her primary GPS unit.
Reading the custom rod and GPS thread gave me no assurance that doing the fix and rooting with a custom rom would fix the issue.
I have enough problems dealing with my MyTouch 4g that you may see me on a Bionic or iPhone with Verizon anyway.
But thanks for the advice. I may root and mod her sisters Captivate to score points because I heard she has had for warranty replacements lol.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been keeping my eyes open for an iPhone4 for my gf as well for the same reasons you mentioned. There's also an AT&T iteration of the Evo coming soon. That might be a good device for her.

Phateless said:
I got a Captivate for my gf and she loves it, but the stock OS pissed her off due to lagging and bloatware.
We installed Cognition 2.3b8 which was very easy and now she really loves it as her daily driver. All you do is put an update.zip for Clockwork on the root of SD. Reboot into oem recovery, reinstall packages twice to get to Clockwork, then wipe data and flash Cognition. Couldn't be easier.
Honestly, if you can find a Nexus One for AT&T (if you have AT&T the T-mobile version will be Edge only!! You need an AT&T Nexus One) I think that's your best bet, but with a little bit of modding and care the Captivate is a great phone. My gf LOVES the giant screen and beautiful display.
That said, the more I learn about it the more pissed off I am with Samsung. Different revisions, ODIN, Kies, Download Mode, etc. Rooting this thing is way more complicated than it needs to be. I'm running a MT4G and SOOOO glad I didn't buy the Vibrant. Shudder...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really??? Rooting this is as easy as switching off your phone and rebooting. With all the easy stuff available right here in this forum and tons on the net... it is a breeze to root and flash a custom ROM.

[Q] thinking of buy galaxy s

Hi
i am thinking of buying Samsung Galaxy S I9000..
is there any problems with it or something else that i should know before buy?
ty!
cp

Cons of the phone:
-Tends to lag unless u apply lagfix
-GPS failure of hardware and software
-reports of faulty internal SD cards means phone bricks easily
-software support by samsung is not the best
-software "KIES" (middleware that connects phone to PC for sync and firmware upgrade) works for some people but not all

-Tends to lag unless u apply lagfix
But not on very latest firmware
-GPS failure of hardware and software
A few report that
-reports of faulty internal SD cards means phone bricks easily
A specific batch Bell Canada had a problem .
jje

New galaxy s will be out next month, best waiting for that.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

PaulForde said:
New galaxy s will be out next month, best waiting for that.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
New galaxy s II is too expensive..

New galaxy s II is too expensive..
But might well be price drop on Mark 1 .
jje

tempura said:
Cons of the phone:
-Tends to lag unless u apply lagfix
-GPS failure of hardware and software
-reports of faulty internal SD cards means phone bricks easily
-software support by samsung is not the best
-software "KIES" (middleware that connects phone to PC for sync and firmware upgrade) works for some people but not all
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Current Rogers user here with Bell phone with the latest firmware 2.2 Froyo, baseband JL2. I had experienced all these issues listed above with my first phone which was 2.1 eclair.
I have received my new phone for roughly 2 weeks and all those problematic issues have been addressed very well. My current phone is solid as a rock.
I have no lagfix applied yet it runs really smooth. My gps locks within 3 to 5 seconds. I don't use kies as I just enable Debugging to access the phone that way if I need to move, delete or copy files from it to my computer. Battery is as probably as good as I could get it considering the large screen and brightness levels. I don't expect it to last 2 or 3 days without a charge.
Keep in mind I have been running a custom ROM (Darky's 9.2) and updated to HardCore kernel.
It's a great phone in my opinion.

Darky is Froyo 2.2.1
All Froyo 2.2.1 has GPS and lag fixed.
All 2.2 and prior, do not (unless you use a 3rd party fix)
The GT-I9000 is pretty good. The variations with sdcard problems.. well have sdcard problems ;-)
And KIES sux. "We" just don't use it.

so what do you think? is it a good purchase?
i'm thinking to buy it from ebay about 300 euros..

Hello. I think the best phone now.
Custom ROM installed.
But my collegue after official update without problems too. GPS fix 5sec,no laging.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

JJEgan said:
-Tends to lag unless u apply lagfix
But not on very latest firmware
I dont agree. I did use all of them and applied lagfix on all of them. Issue not addressed. And you wont have new roms/firmwares out of the box or close to kies.
-GPS failure of hardware and software
A few report that
A lot we do. Lots of testing and nothing. Only gpsaids helps. Hardware problem and software issue.
-reports of faulty internal SD cards means phone bricks easily
A specific batch Bell Canada had a problem .
That is correct, a few reported.
jje
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is a good phone though but I wouldnt buy it again and I dont recomend it.
You really need to like the rom flashing and all of that.
Dont buy it. Go for an htc, I got my sgs for free, but I only would pay for a htc.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

If you have some patience(!), for £300 this phone is the best android imho.
I mean patience for upgrading ROM, fixing problems, and generally maintaining your phone, and bear a bit of choppiness(even after lagfix). If you don't, just buy an iphone4 or htc hd7. Both are good as well, tho different os.
I love the screen, sound quality, android customisation, loads of free apps, and dedicated developers that makes our life easier.

i like aosp so much that .. i9000 wont be the 1st choice

Is Galaxy S that bad?

Hi,
I own my galaxy for like 3 weeks now.
The first 2 weeks I was running stock 2.2.1, and had sudden reboots (it even entered into safe mod once I was sleeping and woke up from the sound the phone was doing), force closes.
So I decided and installed deodexed stock rom with speedmod kernel (+lagfix and recommended tweaks), and I feel that my phone is still bad. Angry birds keeps freezing the phone, wifi errors, and I can't run my phone more than 50hrs of uptime, it either will randomly reboot or as it happens today simply turns it self off and wont let me to turn in on (or getting into recovery/download mode).
When this phone was out everybody said its awesome (fast, stable etc) and I waited for prices to get down, now when I finally got it I think that I made a mistake.
Is anybody else frustrated with their phone? Am I doing something wrong? Maybe I should I hope that samsungs gingerbread will fix this? Or
maybe I should try custom rom like Darky or CM7?
Maybe all smartphones sucks and I dont know it because I never had a smartphone before?
Any suggestions?
Thanks a lot!

is it a new or used one mate ??????
i had it for 1 year now its the best

Its a new one of course.
Are you running any custom rom/kernel?

the beauty of SGS and Android is the continuous evolution of the ROMs you install...
I tried many different ROMs , and I am sure you would finally find something that will make you happy with the machine...
for a start, if you are on 2.2.1, get Darky 9.5 and you wont be disappointed.

Your phone is faulty. I had the device on stock froyo for 4 months after buying it and I never had random reboots or wifi issues.

Definitely take it back. I've modded mine so many times and still looks new to me. Had mine since January of this year.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

@kauh1970 Thanks for the support!
@Furry Atom, very supportive, however I do start to think that something might be wrong with my phone. On other hand, that might be some application that causes the problems.
@alluliwi, Sorry my English is not that good, what do you mean by "take it back"?
Thanks!

skwo said:
@kauh1970 Thanks for the support!
@Furry Atom, very supportive, however I do start to think that something might be wrong with my phone. On other hand, that might be some application that causes the problems.
@alluliwi, Sorry my English is not that good, what do you mean by "take it back"?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By take it back, he meant to send the phone back for repairs or replacement under warranty to Samsung.

I have no problem with my phone, the only thing i dont like is the free ram available... seem low to me

@timelessfahad Thanks for clearing that up.
@vanvn297 You are running a stock 2.2.1 ROM?

Hi,
I recently updated via kies from stock 2.1 to stock 2.2 HVJP4.
So far I'm not impressed with the stock froyo rom. It's often sluggish and apps, especially email from exchange, crash reguarly.
I have not experienced any problems with wifi or 3g reception however.
I'm still trawling the forum, trying to find all the info and confidence to backup the current rom and try something different, but there's a good chance a stock gingerbread rom will appear before that happens. Hopefully it will address some of these problems. Fingers crossed
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA Premium App

Gingerbread works fine

The issue with wifi is pretty known from what I looked (strange thing it never happened on the stock samsung rom only started to happen on deodexed stock with speedmod kernel).
The other thing my original rom was XXJPY and I flashed a deodexed XXJPY so maybe the rom it self is not that good. Gonna try XXJVH/XXJVB deodexed with Demian kernel probably, or will try Darky ROM (also considering CM7).
More replies about your satisfaction with galaxy s will be happily accepted!
Thanks.

skwo said:
More replies about your satisfaction with galaxy s will be happily accepted!
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
in my opinion cm7 has gotten to the point that there is no reason not to install it... its litterally just a single zip now after you have rooted and put cwm on you're phone. the battery is fine, the photo/video is fine (although the samsung camera is way better... panoramic pics ftw) wifi/data is fine/ no need for lagfix/ and its constantly being updated..
edit: actually I think the battery might be better than what I was getting on darky 9.5...

i have been frustrated about my sgs for the first month until i discovered the rom world
usally the stock rom comes bloated with **** and uneeded stuff wich makes the phone slower and many other useless things...(i think)
i am still kind of new to all this and there is so much info do some reading and see how your sgs can be a beast

I too am not feeling the awesomeness of the Galaxy S. My friend got his one when it came out and its hard to believe this is the same phone I thought of as awesome all that time.
I got it new last week, and experiencing quirky behavior that really makes me feel like I'm using a low-mid class phone, and made me completely unenthusiastic/ not inclined with moving to the new phone which is how it should be. I even used my old Motorlla V8 for days after I got the SGS cos I was so unimpressed.
Poor camera, reception, crashes, dropouts, low wi fi signal, stutters, not responding to taps etc, really clunky loose volume button that makes it feel cheap, cheap sounding speaker. And I haven't installed anything on it except quadrant standard, and that crashes sometimes too.
To elborate a little. As far as comparable qualities go, compared to my Motorolla V8, The reception and voice quality is poor. Same network same simcard, I get half the signal, during a call it will sometimes dropout or make that guitar like noise, whereas my V8 never did any of that.
Even when I am next to a wi fi router. It doesn't show full wi-fi signal. Not even at my friends house. It reaches nowhere near as much as any laptop I have had.
I gotta compare these attributes to my friends sgs.
What I have compared so far is the camera, which is much worse on mine, You can see the thread here.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1081453
The AMOLED screen is also a lot dimmer, and cant display white as pure white but a grey/blue tint. Same settings max brightness.
For example quadrant standard, the spinning DNA like helix test. His background is pure snow white, mine is an off blue/grey dim white.
We also compared speakers, same song. His one has stronger clearer sounds, its quite noticable. All in all I'm wondering If I should replace my phone within the 14 day period.
I already took it back one about the camera issue to where I got it and the guy said its fine, so I would really have to go to Vodaphone or samsung directly to get a new one, which I did, and they said go to a repair centre. Even if they even have stock, it could be the same problems. And I would have to prove all these grey area problems.
Anyway check out my other thread as well and apply the Spectrum or Waveform Wallpaper. I wonder if its glitching here, but I think its most likely normal.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1086257
I will try upload a vid soon.

I am using my sgs now for 2 month, and i have to say its a great phone.
But its only great if you flash it.
In my opinion stock roms by Samsung are not fast enough,
full with useless apps and many tweaks like voodoo sound and gps fixes are missing.
(Tested 2 SGS from different providers, both roms not usable)
Try Darkys rom as also mentioned on page one.
There are many roms, and not all of them are bugfree and stable.
You have to remember the programmers arent payed for their work.
If you still have wifi problems uing darkys rom, your phone is damaged.

You probably need to start afresh.
Reflash a stock rom (ie. JPU which is a fill rom), then update to stock gingerbread. There shouldn't be many bugs at all.

oswade said:
You probably need to start afresh.
Reflash a stock rom (ie. JPU which is a fill rom), then update to stock gingerbread. There shouldn't be many bugs at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I finally plucked up the courage to do exactly that.
I'm now running JVH with a CF rooted kernel and the phone is now performing close to what I hoped for.
Secondary boot loaders have also been fixed and I'll admit I held my breath during that flash.
Thanks to everyone here for providing the info I needed and making great roms.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using xda premium

Ive had mine since day 1 and its been amazing. No latency issues, wifi/data works perfectly, stable, no fc's(force closes), and the display is perfect. It seems they've gotten fairly "cheap" with the manufacturing of the newer, more recent models being shipped.
Love this phone... BUT, im still going to trade it in for an SGS2

[Q] LG Optimus, good?

Hi all. Just got this phone (LG Optimus 2X) a few days ago but after reading all the mixed reviews on it and the problems people are having with it I'm not sure if it's a good one to have. The constant crashing of some of the apps is the first thing I noticed. Then the shockingly short battery life (just over 13 hours on a full charge WITHOUT using the phone at all,brightness all the way down,fewer apps)... This is my first "smart phone" ever and I don't know anything about stuff like ROM,flashing,rooting... which means I can't mess with the phone at this point. I was looking at the Samsung Galaxy S II T989 AWS+850 3G, S II 727 skyrocket or S II AWS and I'm wondering if they're better phones. I'm with Windmobile (Canada) and running Android 2.2. I only have a couple of days to make a decision (keep it or exchange it for something different). Any advice?

To be fair to LG, they make decent hardware but their software are like s**t!
Anyway, the very least... Root... Custom Kernel... if you not comfortable with custom rom, then you can skip custom rom first.
At this point, I feel any other phone is better than 2x... Simply because Nvidia and LG are not working well together.

If you still have the chance, I'd recommend you to just send it back and get a better phone. The phone's hardware is decent (not the best), but LG's and Nvidia's support just doesn't cut it.
If you consider the S2 as an option, you'd just better go with it.

Thank you guys for the replies. It's becoming obvious to me the Samsung S2 is a better phone -although not by much- but the thing is, with the LG I didn't have to pay anything while the Samsung is going to cost a couple hundred or so (cant remember exactly) and I don't know if it's worth it for me since I'm not really crazy about having the best smart phones out there. I'm thinking if the LG can at least be reliable I'm ok with it. Like I said, I don't know anything about all these mods you can do to your phone but do they really make a difference?
Also, I tried to update to 2.3 but kept getting "phone has latest version..." message although it's running 2.2 currently.

Install the latest ginger bread. 20Q. its excellent compared with original stock. though you have to root it...

vainqueur said:
At this point, I feel any other phone is better than 2x... Simply because Nvidia and LG are not working well together.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For the first part - I beg to differ. Our phone just got to the point when we can say that it is a good phone, with good software. Using latest official 20q or better yet, customized versions. And there is CM also.
Yes, battery can last enough with everything working just fine, with some updating or flashing various upgrades.
But it took us almost a year to get here. Because nVidia screwed us with not being involved at all, on that we all agree.

We have bought several ones as early adaptors but we have a lot of problems or had in the past... There are a lot of better phones out there it's a relieve to say goodbye after a year of use.
The latest great thing is the phone shutdown after a message saying almost empty battery lol and after a restart the percentage is 65% Most buggy software and a gingerbread update based on the froyo kernel...
Sent from my new discovered phone huh... via Tapatalk

Thanks again for the replies and sharing your opinions.
Supupa, the problem is I have no clue what "rooting", "flashing", "CM".... mean or how it's done. I'm sure with time and some reading and asking I'll be able to learn some of that stuff. The first thing I tried to do was to update the Android version to 2.3 but for whatever reason it didn't want to. I'm mostly concerned about the appalling battery life. A mere 14 hours on a full charge with no use (of the phone) is unacceptable no matter how good a phone is. I am going to take a second look at the Galaxy S II tomorrow and see if I can live with the cheap build.
I don't know, but to me a smart phone with bugs can't be that smart.

I would not buy it again. The hardware is very good, but the software is crap.

Best thing you can do right now is to:
1. download latest firmware: http://csmg.lgmobile.com:9002/swdata/WEBSW/LGP990/AITADW/V20q_00/V20Q_00.kdz (found here)
2. follow one of the guides for flashing: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1327929
This will update everything so you don't have to bother with baseband and RIL right now. And give it a try. If it runs good enough keep it and/or customize it, if not, well...
edit: but wait! Isn't that really LG G2x or P-999 in Wind mobile? If it is, youre in the wrong forum (G2x is here) and that update will make a mess. It's not the same phone although it looks identical. Go to settings > about phone, scroll down and see what it says there. Or make a screenshot and attach it here.

Dac0908 said:
For the first part - I beg to differ. Our phone just got to the point when we can say that it is a good phone, with good software. Using latest official 20q or better yet, customized versions. And there is CM also.
Yes, battery can last enough with everything working just fine, with some updating or flashing various upgrades.
But it took us almost a year to get here. Because nVidia screwed us with not being involved at all, on that we all agree.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with Dac0908,
The phone's hardware is good, the software is ****.
And now the developers @ XDA Have so much good ROMS and now even ICS for us to say that it is a good phone again.
And the battery performance can be increased at a huge rate with a different kernel.
My phone's battery record of staying alive is 86 hours, just saying!

lg O2x v20q with spica1234 kernel sr3+pp10.Excellent

Dac0908 said:
Best thing you can do right now is to:
1. download latest firmware: http://csmg.lgmobile.com:9002/swdata/WEBSW/LGP990/AITADW/V20q_00/V20Q_00.kdz (found here)
2. follow one of the guides for flashing: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1327929
This will update everything so you don't have to bother with baseband and RIL right now. And give it a try. If it runs good enough keep it and/or customize it, if not, well...
edit: but wait! Isn't that really LG G2x or P-999 in Wind mobile? If it is, youre in the wrong forum (G2x is here) and that update will make a mess. It's not the same phone although it looks identical. Go to settings > about phone, scroll down and see what it says there. Or make a screenshot and attach it here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, Dac. My phone is the P999 actually. Anyway, I have to return the phone tomorrow because I think it's defective. I've only had it for a few days and only 4 minutes of talk time but the phone keeps disconnecting itself from service and keeps displaying the message "Emergency only". I've talked to the technical support 3 times already and went one time to the store where I bought but only a few hours after we "fix" the problem it comes back and I lose connection. The phone also kept switching between Wind Home and Wind Away on its own even though I was sitting at home. I was watching Youtube and suddenly the screen went completely black and I had to shut the phone off to get the screen to work again. I have no doubt this particular phone is DEFECTIVE. Very bad start. My Sony Ericsson 580 has been working without a glitch whatsoever since I bought it in Feb '08 and the battery still gives me the same exact time it did when it was brand new.
I don't know if I'll be having the same problems if I get another similar LG 2X. I like the phone but the problems I'm having with mine and what I've learned about this phone in the past few days make me wanna steer away from it now. I really want to give the LG O2X a try but I don't know.

Tough luck, can happen to any brand or model
Well it's not a bad phone. Most of software glitches are fixed now, community is strong, and for that price I don't think you can get something better. I'm talking about market prices, not subsidized by carriers of course.
S2 is in higher price class: http://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_r_vs_lg_optimus_2x-review-713.php but it's a free world... well, sort of.

Thanks, Dac. Yeah I know. It's electronics. Didn't get a chance to go to the store today. I'll go tomorrow and decide if I'm going to keep this phone or get a Samsung. If I keep it and figure out how to do all the things that can be done to make it a better phone I hope it would be reliable for at least a couple of years.

LG optimus 2X was the cheepest dual core high-end phone I could find on a second hand market in my country. Of course I flashed CM7 (I'm on a Temasek's latest KANG) and my phone is rock stable and very fast. I'm using ADW EX launcher btw. I can only sugest to the OP to invest some time in exploring how to get ROOT and how to flash custom rom because that will be usefull regardless of which android phone you have. It is actually very hard to truly "brick" your phone, I've had a broken connection wih a PC in the middle of flashing a custom rom with ODIN on my old Samsung Spica because of bad drivers and I still managed to get my phone working easily

FaceTheSlayer said:
LG optimus 2X was the cheepest dual core high-end phone I could find on a second hand market in my country. Of course I flashed CM7 (I'm on a Temasek's latest KANG) and my phone is rock stable and very fast. I'm using ADW EX launcher btw. I can only sugest to the OP to invest some time in exploring how to get ROOT and how to flash custom rom because that will be usefull regardless of which android phone you have. It is actually very hard to truly "brick" your phone, I've had a broken connection wih a PC in the middle of flashing a custom rom with ODIN on my old Samsung Spica because of bad drivers and I still managed to get my phone working easily
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Man!! It keeps getting more and more complicated. I have no idea what "bricking" is, ADW launcher,... So many things that I don't know anything about.
Looks like the only other decent phone I can get on Windtab is the Samsung Nexus. It's $250 while the LG is free. I'm assuming the Nexus is better than the LG but It looks ugly with that stupid curve and it feels really cheap.So, I don't know. I'm still deciding, but is the Nexus worth the money?

I was sorta in the same boat as you last week, (choosing between the Galaxy S, P990 and the Galaxy S2.).
1. The Galaxy S (with flashed rom and kernel) was already an awesome phone which could do anything you wanted, and during my short usage I found the P990 either equal (smoothness, gps fix speed) or even better (camera, wifi/3g connection strength, HDMI without $50 cable).
2. Flashing (= installing) new and better software is a piece of cake for this phone. Now I know you're new so it might not look as a piece of cake to you, but in physical steps it boils down to:
How to Root your phone. (= Give yourself full access to the phone)
1. Install software "LG United Mobile Driver 3.6" (use google) on pc.
2. Install software "SuperOneClick" (use google) on pc.
3. Connect phone to pc, then click "Root" in "SuperOneClick"
Done
How to Install custom firmware/rom/kernel
Assuming you have an external microSD card inserted.
1. Install CWM Recovery
Go to android market (on phone) and download ROM Manager. In ROM Manager choose "install/flash ClockWorkMod (CWM) Recovery
2. Download any new ROM you wish to install from this forum and put it anywhere on the phone.
3. Enter CWM Recovery mode
(When the phone is off: hold Volume Down and Power buttons. The white LG logo will come up, keep holding. Let go when the LG logo suddenly gets a blue background. Note: If you hold these buttons without succesfully installing CWM (step 1), then you will factory reset your phone and it will reboot again.
The following steps are covered in every thread on ROMs, every rom maker includes instructions on how to flash (=install) their ROMs. Yet in about 9.9 of 10 cases it boils down to:
4. In CWM Recovery, go to "Backup and Restore", and make a Nandroid backup. (You need an external microSD for this).
Move the cursor in CWM Recovery with the volume buttons and enter with the power key.
5. Do a factory reset. (Wipe Data, Wipe Cache)
Yes this will wipe your apps, appdata, messages and contacts so have that backed up if you want, but since you have a new phone, you won't have anything to save. It will not delete anything that wasn't in the Data folder, such as photo's/music.
6. Then go to "Install ZIP from SD card". Browse to the downloaded ROM (step 2), select it. It will install, will take about 1 minute. ​That's it. Reboot.
You can choose from ROMs based on official LG android, or totally rebuilt from scratch such as CyanogenMod (CM7), or based on CM7. ROMs with a CM7 base will look significantly different from stock roms, and subjectively I'd say these are the better roms to look at as they've been more developed. You can find CM7 roms because they have the [CM7] tag in the thread title in the Optimus 2X Development forum.
Now read more guides on how to do it (because I may have forgotten something), I just wanted to give you a basic overview of what's waiting for you. Enjoy!

As per what you pay, its the best
Sent from my LG-P990 using Tapatalk

Hey guys,
I think it's great that you're trying to help our friend Electroman here... but please keep one thing in mind, the ROMs in this section are for P990. Electroman, if you try to flash your P999 with a ROM for P990 you will risk bricking your phone. (Bricking your phone is basically turning your phone into a brick... or paper weight) So please proceed with caution.

[Q] Yet another Bricked Nexus one

I have done it this time, I tried flashing a custom rom (Cynogen 10.1) and Ended up bricking it, I can get it into CWM but when I try to select anything the screen goes blank with just the image of the rom manager that is in the background and does nothing. It corrupted my SD card so recovery is not an option and Fastboot doesnt really work either. Kies doesnt recognize it neither does ODIN. I have tried just about every way to fix it that I have found and all it does is piss me off. CMD in windows does nothing. Anyone have any suggestions? Or can I just run it over with my car, I am totally sick of nexus, and the sidekick sucks just as much. So what are my options?

How about selecting with a different button? Like trackball instead of power, for example?
Nexus is super-easy to deal with and it's very hard to brick one. However, I suggest you read more to get the idea how to work with it. Fastboot is always an option, if you unlock the phone (and there is no reason to keep it locked).

Jack_R1 said:
How about selecting with a different button? Like trackball instead of power, for example?
Nexus is super-easy to deal with and it's very hard to brick one. However, I suggest you read more to get the idea how to work with it. Fastboot is always an option, if you unlock the phone (and there is no reason to keep it locked).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Holy mother of god you make me feel like such a tard lol.... I don't really know why I didn't think of the trackball. I actually like the Nexus I was just incredibly pissed at it. But I used to track ball to flash the stock rom onto it, Now time to re-root it this time with the boot loader unlocked, and try once again. So erm it works again..... Thanks for the option that was just about the easiest one there is. Definitively going to read up on this phone. I need to for my own sanity and the knowledge of how to do things the easy way lol.
I seriously spent the last 4 hours googling and reading how to fix it and nothing worked.... Then you provided a fix that I should have caught after reading so many pages on google about it :/

You know Kies and Odin are for Samsung phones, right?

I should just stop before I get to far ahead of myself. But the posts I read about fixing this thing. A lot of them said something about using Odin. I can't figure out how to flash roms or anything on this phone. All I have accomplished is unlocking it and rooting it.
Otherwise I just don't understand hboot, blackrose, the s-off thing and or why or how I have to partition anything to install a damned custom rom. I have never had this much of a problem with any other phone than the nexus. Can't get cwm to stick and am considering buying 4ext since there is no free version I don't really have a choice. There used to be a free version but not anymore apparently.
But I have tried to flash a 250mb hboot. Which didn't work, tried to flash cm10.1 which also didn't work. I can't figure it out. I had a friend with a note that wasn't this much of a hassle either. So I am just about ready to give up. I am waiting for the iPhone to come out on T-Mobile late march and I think I'm just going to ditch android. Mainly cause it now is starting to cost money to customize these Androids cause cwm sucks and everything else you have to pay for it seems. Or stay current with the new nexus 7 or whatever. Then when you have a newer phone there is absolutely no point to rooting or flashing roms on it because the only reason for it in the first place is to increase proformance and or upgrade from the crappiest OS's like gingerbread and froyo to jellybean or ICS.
Its whatever I guess. Just too phone illiterate to be able to cope with new technologies I guess.
Hell even pulling a galaxy noteII out of a hard brick is easier than rooting and customizing these phones.
Sent from my Nexus One using Tapatalk 2

@kitsuKun, A lot of members here enjoy tinkering with their phone, including me to get the latest version of the Android OS on an old phone. It's not that we can't afford a new phone. So if you have questions, feel free to ask and don't whine
Sent from my Nexus One using xda app-developers app

I am not trying to whine. All I am saying is I don't get the HTC. Can't figure it out. If I have questions I will ask but right now I dont, I have understood what I have read.
Sent from my Nexus One using Tapatalk 2