i780 with Orange

[Guest samson78]

Hi,

I am about to get a i780, Orange branded. From my research I have a few questions and i do not know if SIM-free is a better (and far more expensive) choice.

First of all, I will put aside the fact that the Orange branded i780 is a lot uglier than the unbranded :D .

1. Is the GPS working out of the box (at least with Garmin XT and Google Maps) ? Or is it locked?

2. Has Orange removed any of the original Samsung software/skins/today screens? The Orange default today screen is totally ugly and useless IMHO.

3. Is the Orange ROM slower/buggier than the vanilla one? Is it worth it to flash it with the English ROM that can be found elsewhere?

4. Are there any other restrictions/differences on the Orange branded version?

Thanks in advance

[Guest ~DC:UK~]

I will be getting three of these from Orange tomorrow hopefully so I should be able to give you more info but I have heard the GPS on the branded phones is locked. The SIM-free ones allow you to download and install a copy of Garmin from the Samsung website but installing it on an Orange phone gives a message saying your trial period has expired so the GPS must be different in the Orange ROM.

I also heard Orange have removed the Samsung Today home screen and the default is their own version (which I also hate). From past experience with a vast array of Orange Windows Mobile devices, their ROM is always plagued with problems. I have a C600 and M5000 both flashed with cooked WM6.1 ROM's and they perform far better with those than the Orange ones. Even the battery lasts longer on them now.

You could always flash it with a cooked ROM from xda-developers but its still early days in the hacking of the i780 and as such the cooked ROM's aren't very stable and have some features that don't work correctly.

I will let you know what I find on the ones I should get tomorrow.

[Guest matt1971]

Hi,

I am about to get a i780, Orange branded. From my research I have a few questions and i do not know if SIM-free is a better (and far more expensive) choice.

First of all, I will put aside the fact that the Orange branded i780 is a lot uglier than the unbranded :D .

1. Is the GPS working out of the box (at least with Garmin XT and Google Maps) ? Or is it locked?

2. Has Orange removed any of the original Samsung software/skins/today screens? The Orange default today screen is totally ugly and useless IMHO.

3. Is the Orange ROM slower/buggier than the vanilla one? Is it worth it to flash it with the English ROM that can be found elsewhere?

4. Are there any other restrictions/differences on the Orange branded version?

Thanks in advance

Hi,

Other people may know more , but my i780:

1 GPS works with google maps. I dont know about Garmin, however I have just purchased the latest version of Route 66 Mobile 8 that specifically mentions the i780 as being compatible so will wait and see. I have got the old version of Route 66 working but via gpsgate.

2. Orange today is still there but can be disable and there are 3 samsung "Themes" but not any other today screens like Orange (where there are modules to customise etc)

3/4 Dont know sorry.

Matt

[Guest david_inuk]

Hi,

I am about to get a i780, Orange branded. From my research I have a few questions and i do not know if SIM-free is a better (and far more expensive) choice.

First of all, I will put aside the fact that the Orange branded i780 is a lot uglier than the unbranded :D .

1. Is the GPS working out of the box (at least with Garmin XT and Google Maps) ? Or is it locked?

2. Has Orange removed any of the original Samsung software/skins/today screens? The Orange default today screen is totally ugly and useless IMHO.

3. Is the Orange ROM slower/buggier than the vanilla one? Is it worth it to flash it with the English ROM that can be found elsewhere?

4. Are there any other restrictions/differences on the Orange branded version?

Thanks in advance

The orange Today screen is nasty and can't be customised! The plain vanilla one looks great (http://i780.wordpress.com/2008/05/14/samsu...80-full-review/).

Does anybody know a way how to get rid of the nasty Orange customisation and put it back to the way Samsung designed it???!!!!!

The GPS on the Orange phones is rough and tough. It works on Google maps out "of the box" (if u r lucky!) although because it takes around 5 mins to get its first fix many people probably mess about for hours as I did thinking that its not working at all when in fact it is still waking up! I have managed to get TomTom to work but only through using GPSgate. That also takes around 5 mins for it's first fix. Its rather annoying.

The phone is great and other than the above and my desperate wish to be able to customise the homescreen, I cant fault it. Its almost as good and as fast as my Treo 650!

All I need now is a decent Today screen (I'm using HTC Home which isn't bad but cant really be customised much) and a decent launcher!