Questions and Comments from an iphone 4 user

[Guest kellyllek]

Questions:

As an iphone 4 users I'm used to backing up to itunes. Is there a similar feature for backing up my new ZTE Blade to my computer?

Next, It looks like in all the initial apps I've installed they gone mostly to the phone storage and not to the 2GB SD card. Is that where I want my Apps to install? And how do I move them over there? And should I get a larger capacity SD card right away or can I move everything to a new card easily later?

It's taken a couple days to get the phone all set up how I like it, with a bunch of neat and useful apps, etc... So If I want to change to a different "ROM" thing can I do that while keeping the apps and layout I have now? Or is it like starting again? Plus, if I try a different ROM can I back up my current OS as it is and restore it all later? And lastly is it possible to run a couple ROMS at the same time?

Comments:

I picked up an Orange San Francisco and followed the advice on the orangesanfrancisco.co.uk site to unlock and install the Jellyfish Android ROM. Fortunately it all seems to be working fine, but I did not realize Modaco existed and perhaps I would have been better off starting here. That being said Modaco and all the forum topics are overwhelming.

I both pleased and a bit disappointed by the Blade. The bottom line is the iphone 4 is just the slickest neatest phone, with a great camera, an OS I'm very familiar with, and knockout screen, and it just responds and does many things very well. I've been spoiled by it. However it's impossible for me to unlock my US version at the moment and though I spend a lot of time in the UK I can't justify another iphone. Plus, I was eager to see what Android was all about.

I realized Blade is almost impossible to compare to the iphone 4. I made my decision to buy it based mainly on it's decent screen. When I upgraded to the iphone 4 the screen was not a priority for doing so, but I quickly found I hated looking at the old iphone, as as I read a lot of email and websites on the small screen I found the Retina display ideal. So that was the overriding decision to go with the Blade over the HTC Wildfire and other phones below the 250pound price range. It looks like indeed with unlocking the Blade and putting on Froyo I've got a phone that is very well featured for a total bargain.

Generally I've found that things are just not quite as snappy and the screen is not quite as responsive. I didn't expect it to be, but it is a little frustrating taking a step backward from what I'm used too. And the camera; well compared to the iphone that is a bit useless. (I'll live.) But I do like out the box, without jailbreaking so to speak, that Android has a ton of great features the iphone does not offer.

I love the widgets on the desktop. I love the SWYPE beta keyboard option (wow iphone is missing out on this!). I love the hepatic(sp?) feedback on the clicks, (though I'm miffed as to why some places that works and others it does not). And I gotta say I love that my mind is at ease because I'm carrying only a sub 100pound device in my pocket rather than a virtual slab of pure gold I'm constantly worried about! So far this phone seems to do about 80% of what I could do with my iphone, and another 30% of things that I never considered with the iphone. So all in all I'm quite pleased.

It really seems like the whole MAC vs PC story all over again. You buy a MAC you pay extra for a premium slick machine that does a lot of things very well. Buy a PC and you get a bargain that isn't quite as slick , but one that is is capable of so much more, though it'll take a more effort and frustration to get there.

[Guest lixcab]

Spot on with your comments. The iPhone is an amazing phone with a UI that, in my opinion, is still superior to the current Android offering.

Sometimes I wish I have an iPhone but I already dropped my phone a couple of times and looking back now, I'm happy that I wasn't wielding the jesus phone. I won't even start with the number of times I let my phone get wet in the rain because I desperately need the GPS around London.

It's definitely not a perfect device but at the price it is going for... who cares? :D

[Guest Lew247]

What exactly do you mean by "backup up my phone"?

Do you mean the content or music or apps? or something else?

You can back up the WHOLE phone by using clockwork mod and doing a backup - this takes a snapshot of the phone exactly as it is at that moment and you can restore that backup at any stage (ideal if you mess up your phone somehow)

This is sometimes refered to as a nandroid backup - its the same thing.

You can use ADB which is a command line program for removing and putting files/apps onto your phone

You can select "Mount USB" and literally copy files to and from your SD card simply by dragging and dropping

If you want to do the same (very similar) thing with the whole phone then look at Android Commander http://androidcommander.com/

I use Android Commander 99% of the time but for certain things I still use ADB (personal Preference)

not sure if that helped or not - hope it did

btw I played with an iPhone for the first time a few weeks ago when I went to visit a relative and I have to say

- EWW! hated the thing lol

but again that's personal preference

I'd always been a Nokia person right from their 1st GSM phone and would never consider anything else - but when their N900 was such a disappointment I tried the Blade after reading a quick review online last year and never looked back since

Yes the camera is Pure Sh1t but they are learning their next phone comes with a 5MP camera and flash, I just hope one day they realise that having a high quality camera and proper flash (while keeping the price low) will sell more phones also

[Guest kellyllek]

Thanks Lew, that helped a lot!

Still pretty happy with the Android and Blade. Funny how one thing I hate one both devices is when you try to move an app to a different home screen; I have to grab it like 5 times and hope I can get it over far enough...

Absolutely love the SWYPE keyboard.

Even though the phone feels super light, plastically and cheap, I like all that at the same time!

Screen is fab; not quite Retina fab, but not bad.

zooming in browser sucks compared, but I'm living with it. I downloaded that Dolphin browsers and a bunch of extensions; (do the extensions automatically load or do i have to activate them somehow?

I hate the Apps market. Getting Apps is easier, but the market itself is a big mess and people seem incredibly happy with crappy Apps. I hate saying that because I could never have the brains to write a lick of code, but when I down loaded a few popular ones I was unimpressed. Apple is still miles ahead here.

Skype works, so that is cool. Angry Birds is much the same. And I'm really bumped I can't get Jet Car Stunts. I don't know if the phone says it doesn't exist or I'm in the wrong country, or the phone doesn't have the power for it, but I can't even download it...

I notice a few others are missing too, like Pandora...

[Guest Azurren]

Installing a froyo rom will help with most of those problems (Missing market apps, speed etc.) :D

Holding the widget / shortcut at the edge of the screen will keep the homescreens scrolling slowly, no need to keep dropping it down

The new version of "Opera Mobile" (Free) combined with a froyo rom gives you excellent pinch zooming, text and panning (Better than the stock iPad 2 browser :D)

Android market.. True there isn't a mass libary of apps you will probably never use but there is also less duplicate / cheesy knock-off apps. There is an app for everything important and most are FREE!

And in my mind its better to have less, free apps available than boatloads of paid apps

Edited March 23, 2011 by Azurren

[Guest whitelight]

You can back up the WHOLE phone by using clockwork mod and doing a backup - this takes a snapshot of the phone exactly as it is at that moment and you can restore that backup at any stage (ideal if you mess up your phone somehow)

This is sometimes refered to as a nandroid backup - its the same thing.

It doesn't backup any of the apps though - you'd need titanium backup to do that.

[Guest Poodha]

It doesn't backup any of the apps though - you'd need titanium backup to do that.

Yes it does. As stated it takes a "snapshot" of the phone. EVERYTHING is exactly as it was when you took the backup.

But if you want to change ROM and make a backup of your things(apps, messages, contacts etc) then you have to use titanium or mybackup(or any other backupprogram).

OR you can use google services and backup your contacts, calender, apps etc online.

[Guest Poodha]

Yes it does. As stated it takes a "snapshot" of the phone. EVERYTHING is exactly as it was when you took the backup.

But if you want to change ROM and make a backup of your things(apps, messages, contacts etc) then you have to use titanium or mybackup(or any other backupprogram).

OR you can use google services and backup your contacts, calender, apps etc online.

On the ops observation on iphone and blade, they are pretty much true. I bought the phone knowing that the camera was absolutely piss(really, the only thing you can use it for is scanning codes). But the rest of the Blade is extremely worth the price. And then again, how many Blades can you buy for one iphone? So it's not really a fari comparison.

I haven't used apples appmarket, but I tend to agree. Google missed the mark there. It should be better. Which is weird, considering google have the beast search engine in the world. Although that pretty much everything on the market is free, is a nice bonus.

[Guest agreenjesus]

The big differences between the blade & iphone (any apple product) are value for money & compatability/accessability. If I bought anything apple new I'd feel ripped off. The only apple thing I've got is a 30" monitor (2560 x 1600) that wont play Bluray or HD DVD. I wouldn't be surprised if we found out Apple was being run by Scientologists.

Just my little personal rant.

[Guest Carlos Abel Chavez Slim]

You do realise that the iPhone 4 costs over 500 pounds and the Blade is around 90 pounds.

It's like comparing a Ferrari to a Fiat Punto.

[Guest macman1]

have you tried http://www.doubletwist.com/ as i have also moved from iphone 3g to the blade, it works with itunes to sync music and videos. hope it helps :D

[Guest Rotmann]

Skype works, so that is cool. Angry Birds is much the same. And I'm really bumped I can't get Jet Car Stunts. I don't know if the phone says it doesn't exist or I'm in the wrong country, or the phone doesn't have the power for it, but I can't even download it...

I notice a few others are missing too, like Pandora...

Some apps/games are not compatible to the crappy ARM6 CPU, like google earth, AirAttack, Stupid Zombies, JetCar and so on.

[Guest kellyllek]

Thanks for all the replies. Yeah I didn't want to make a direct comparison between the phones as that is impossible. The Blade wins out totally when it comes to value for money and I'm really pleased I picked it up for use in Europe. I can see I can use it like an Ipod tough too in the US, or even add it to my current plan as it's own phone. I know I already said this, but the SWYPE keyboard is another winner and totally beats what the iphone has. I don't' think it's any faster, but I can type a message with 7 taps rather than 50 and I love that. Plus half the time I hardly even look at the keyboard and it still gets as much spelling or predicting right as the Iphone.

And the enhanced screen is really awesome. I was just looking at a friends more expensive Android (forget what), it was nice, but the screen just ruined it. Physically it's a bit taller and thinner than the iphone's and I still like how the iphone renders pages with safari, even compared to the Opera browser no Android. The Android (or blade at least) leaves no margin on the left when you zoom into a column, and I don't like that; I want a bit of space...

But again, in totality I'm really happy with it and if I was making these decisions all over again the Blade has certainly make Android more attractive.

Yeah the Apps. I still say the Iphone is better. Actually I like the Android Market better (or at least through App Brain). With the iphone you constantly have to leave the store to download an App and it's cumbersome. Same goes for the Android Market I guess but it seems much easier to carry on where you left off. Often I try out two or three Apps at a time.

the memory issue I'm having is still a killer. (I posted about it in another thread). But I know there's other Roms and stuff I can try if I feel like it. I suppose now my biggest issue is I can't install everything to the SD card. So many apps, even with App mover apps, can't be moved off the Internal memory, and that's a problem. I've already killed a few apps, (like photoshop) that I did not want to lose.

anyway, thanks again for all the comments. I'm checking out backing up ideas now. DoubleTwist looks interesting... However, I do like how I can back up and sync the iphone, but at the same time syncing is a confusing pain and I've often ended up with double contacts or my homescreen layout totally rearranged...