221 replies to this topic

[qwerta369]

Anyone know how to get rid of the Orange branding?

[flash2004]

qwerta369, on Oct 3 2010, 10:09, said:

Anyone know how to get rid of the Orange branding?

see this
http://android.modac...deo-now-online/

[cipster]

neologan, on Oct 2 2010, 18:16, said:

Click menu / settings / sound & display, then scroll down to brightness. Try lowering it from what it is. My guess is it's high on yours maybe?

i did that first time i opened it,  it's the same, fluoroscent colors. i'm going to the shop and going to compare it to another san francisco.
might have to send it for repairs under warranty.
thanks.

[Kuteguy]

thought I already posted this but it seems to have gotten lost

Excellent Review Paul - really indepth and accurate.

Few negative things I am finding though - not sure if its just my handset:
- the speakerphone is REALLY bad; I can hear the caller perfectly but they can hardly hear me. Even in my quiet room the callers complain they hear loud background noise. So much so that I had to switch to normal phone
- the screen gets really dirty really quickly - my Samsung omnia never had this problem
- really miss an optical button - sometimes the fine control comes in handy when entering text in text fields
- definitely miss the hard buttons - start / end call; and also miss the camera button a little bit
- miss not having 8+gb of internal storage (my 16gb is nearly full - looks like I will have to get a 32gb card)
- lack of ability to re-calibrate the screen ("problem" with all android phones); this is a problem becuse I like to use the corner of my nail to use the touchscreen. however, with android its calibrated for the middle of your finger which makes it very hard to see what you are pressing

But no real complaints at £100 tho (besides the speakerphone issue) - loving the phone and missing windows mobile less and less every day.

Just for the record, the things I miss about the windows mobile 6.5 are (maybe someone can tell me how to overcome these):

- reverse USB tethering (allowing the mobile to use my laptop's internet connection via USB)
- true multi-threading (I use to play MP4 videos via coreplayer and then switch back and forth between coreplayer and other apps on the phone); but now when I exit one app - it exits! and I have to restart the session; I have tried Act 1 video player and does allow video playing in the background - but I cannot then control stop/start via my bluetooth headset and also when I try and resume the Act 1 video player session it usually crashes
- a good multi-media player - the thing I use the phone most for; can't beat WinMo's Coreplayer (I have tried Act 1, Rockplayer, etc)

really hope this phone gets froyo 2.2 - if so, then this is the phone I will have for the next 2 years minimum

Edited by Kuteguy, 03 October 2010 - 10:52 PM.

[lilim_ac]

Kuteguy, on Oct 3 2010, 19:17, said:

thought I already posted this but it seems to have gotten lost

Excellent Review Paul - really indepth and accurate.

Few negative things I am finding though - not sure if its just my handset:
- the speakerphone is REALLY bad; I can hear the caller perfectly but they can hardly hear me. Even in my quiet room the callers complain they hear loud background noise. So much so that I had to switch to normal phone
- the screen gets really dirty really quickly - my Samsung omnia never had this problem
- really miss an optical button - sometimes the fine control comes in handy when entering text in text fields
- definitely miss the hard buttons - start / end call; and also miss the camera button a little bit
- miss not having 8+gb of internal storage (my 16gb is nearly full - looks like I will have to get a 32gb card)

But no real complaints at £100 tho (besides the speakerphone issue) - loving the phone and missing windows mobile less and less every day.

Just for the record, the things I miss about the windows mobile 6.5 are (maybe someone can tell me how to overcome these):

- reverse USB tethering (allowing the mobile to use my laptop's internet connection via USB)
- true multi-threading (I use to play MP4 videos via coreplayer and then switch back and forth between coreplayer and other apps on the phone); but now when I exit one app - it exits! and I have to restart the session; I have tried Act 1 video player and does allow video playing in the background - but I cannot control stop/start via my bluetooth headset and also when I try and resume the Act 1 video player session - it usually crashes
- a good multi-media player - the thing I use the phone most for; can't beat WinMo's Coreplayer (I have tried Act 1, Rockplayer, etc)

really hope this phone gets froyo 2.2 - if so, then this is the phone I will have for the next 2 years minimum

can anyone confirm about the "speakerphone" and the "true multi-threading"?
also anyone have tried 3d games and how is it? laggy or can not play ...

[linkoo]

I wouldn't say call quality is good, it's actually pretty poor as there's a constant noise in the background, atleast on my device. Also my volume up/down does not have a "nice click", but are all quirky and makes a unpleasant noise (only when lowering vol) .
Other than that I'm very satisfied.

Edit: I was able to force the volumebutton up like half a mm. So now it has a nice click instead... not the best quality though.

Edited by linkoo, 03 October 2010 - 05:08 PM.

[dj9928]

Hi, can someone tell me the quality of the FM radio? I'm sure its not an Android issue but FM reception was totally dire on my HTC Desire, it struggled with even the strongest BBC signals, and an FM radio is a deal decider for me as I use it for work, had to return my Desire, Is reception is strong?

Edited by dj9928, 03 October 2010 - 07:47 PM.

[k0nrad]

Great review Paul, kudos!

I'm in two minds about getting the San Francisco (I can import it via a friend with no sweat I guess). SanFran seems obviously the best choice for me in the low/mid-end.

But I have some reservations about budget devices as a Toshiba G500 and G810 user - they were nice phones, just getting faulty after some time. And I'm not in a desperate need for a phone, as I'm quite happy with my Omnia (thanks to the awesome MoDaCo community as well!).
I ditched the idea of getting Galaxy i5700 cheap on contract earlier this year, but I'm quite tempted to throw some cash and jump ship now.

The main question is:

How big is the gap in quality and performance between the Blade and, say, Milestone or Desire?

Is it worth waiting half a year to get one of these devices* on contract for  ~£100-150, maybe little less?
Considering I get 50% off monthly fee for not taking a new phone, or maybe won't need a new contract at all?

Don't be shy, tell me what you think! ;]


*) I have no delusions about buying the likes of Desire Z, Milestone 2 or whatever the next big thing is... Unless I get shitloads of money somehow, but then it really wouldn't matter whether I bought the Blade or not...

Edited by k0nrad, 03 October 2010 - 11:44 PM.

[PaulOBrien]

Quote

How big is the gap in quality and performance between the Blade and, say, Milestone or Desire?

It's there, but imho it's not as big as you'd expect! How the device will last over time remains to be seen of course...

Quote

Is it worth waiting half a year to get one of these devices* on contract for ~£100-150, maybe little less?

And then be locked into a 18 (or likely 24 month) contract? That's a pretty big penalty...

P

[jonesian]

Hi - can someone tell me if a) unlocking and modding the handset voids the warranty, please?
If so, what happens if the thing goes wrong?

I'm a bit worried as I need a new phone and this would be stretching me financially.

I have searched the forum but I don't seem to be able to find any answers?

Thanks!

[PaulOBrien]

I don't think unlocking does, modding might tho... altho that said i've never had a warranty claim returned because of a ROM being different!

P

[john306]

dj9928, on Oct 3 2010, 20:46, said:

Hi, can someone tell me the quality of the FM radio? I'm sure its not an Android issue but FM reception was totally dire on my HTC Desire, it struggled with even the strongest BBC signals, and an FM radio is a deal decider for me as I use it for work, had to return my Desire, Is reception is strong?

Initial impressions very good, I'll know more tonight after I've been out and about with it today.
Had a SE K800i in tha past and that was very good fm, Nokia 5800 was real poor.
Before this SF came out I was gonna go for the Desire but the radio reports of interference put me right off.

[jonesian]

Paul, on Oct 4 2010, 08:57, said:

I don't think unlocking does, modding might tho... altho that said i've never had a warranty claim returned because of a ROM being different!

P

Hi Paul, thanks very much - I'm think I'm going to order one and attempt to join the 21st Century!
I hope I don't have too many more dumbo newbee questions to bother the forum with!

[jonesian]

Just bought one from Orange over the phone for £81 - including the £10 top up, making the handset £71 - cripes!

[N4V]

linkoo, lilim_ac & Kuteguy.

Ive tagged my comments of the speakerphone onto the following thread.  Check it out to see what I got from limited testing.  Hope others who have the issue will also respond.

http://android.modac...m-deal-breaker/

[ernok]

Hi

Anyone worked out what the back button light flashes does
When charging its red/green when charged
Other times when not charging it flashes red for no obvious reason ?

ern

[tom619]

jonesian, on Oct 4 2010, 12:15, said:

Just bought one from Orange over the phone for £81 - including the £10 top up, making the handset £71 - cripes!

How'd you get it for £81?

[Superewza]

I guess my only question would be regarding the lack of directional controls - i find i use them a fair bit on my i5700 but i'm assuming that multitouch compensates for it in the browser, how about text editing? If you want to go back, does it work in a similar way to the iphone? Or is there a way to get it to? Because i find it incredibly difficult to get the cursor in the right place using my finger, which will be in the way.

Thanks! Very close to sticking the Spica (with stock 1.5, damn no Linux support) up on ebay in favor of one of these!

[mannybianco]

Superewza, on Oct 4 2010, 23:37, said:

I guess my only question would be regarding the lack of directional controls - i find i use them a fair bit on my i5700 but i'm assuming that multitouch compensates for it in the browser, how about text editing? If you want to go back, does it work in a similar way to the iphone? Or is there a way to get it to? Because i find it incredibly difficult to get the cursor in the right place using my finger, which will be in the way.

Thanks! Very close to sticking the Spica (with stock 1.5, damn no Linux support) up on ebay in favor of one of these!

It's a bit cumbersome, but in the bundled TouchPal keyboard you can long press the button to to left of the space bar (the one with a pen and a dot on it) to bring up directional keys (among other keys). I'm a bit annoyed by this, as I'm used to the trackball on my old phone (HTC Dream), but at least I don't have to tap like five times every time I want to place the cursor exactly where I need it to edit text.

[Sam0ht]

Thanks for the great review, very informative.

How would you say the San Fransisco compares with the venerable Pulse, in use ?