Quote :

"actually he offered a great solution the sentence directly before the one you quoted: Tasker. Control all that shit yourself instead of using some crappy app to do it."

i read his post wrong...it wasn't clear (to me) that "tasker" was an app

i'll look into it

2/28/2012 4:38:25 PM

If you're in a situation when you can't charge it overnight, a couple spare batteries can be invaluable. I got 2 extra batteries and a wall charger for my D2G on eBay for about $20.

2/28/2012 5:21:25 PM

the problem is that i don't always know when i might need the extra batteries and sometimes i don't have a chance to grab a charger

it's not a regular thing...so i figured it made sense to get into the habit of saving the battery...even if it's not strictly necessary most of the time, why not? it saves energy when it doesn't need to be using it

i haven't had a chance to look at tasker in-depth, but it holds promise

2/28/2012 6:18:04 PM

Quote :

"I got 2 extra batteries and a wall charger for my D2G on eBay for about $20."

Yep. I've always done this with my HTCs and now with my Galaxy Nexus. Just bought 3 batteries and 2 chargers off eBay for $18. I've got a charger with a full battery always ready to go at home and at work, and a spare in the glove box in my car.

You almost don't even have to charge your phone if you don't have to...just swap batteries. I got to that point with my HTCs since the batteries died so quickly. I actually charge my Nexus normally since it/ICS holds a charge better

2/28/2012 7:13:43 PM

ah, tasker isn't free...so i think what we've discovered is that no one has managed to make a free battery saver app that doesn't suck

2/28/2012 8:37:51 PM

we have also managed to discover that battery life on your phone is not worth even $6.50 to you whereas to the rest of us, we will pay for the app, and buy the extra 3 extended batteries and chargers, etc. etc. etc. to make our phones last.

[Edited on February 28, 2012 at 8:49 PM. Reason : pay the money]

2/28/2012 8:48:57 PM

Quote :

"we have also managed to discover that battery life on your phone is not worth even $6.50 to you"

why would i pay $6.50 for something that may or may not even work? i didn't see a free trial on the market

Quote :

"buy the extra 3 extended batteries and chargers, etc. etc. etc. to make our phones last."

i'm sorry you missed the part where i said that that wouldn't solve my problem

Quote :

"pay the money"

don't need to...i found a "free" version of tasker on teh intarwebs...maybe i'll throw them some money if it does what i want

2/28/2012 8:55:15 PM

Cyanogenmod coupled with like a SetCPU like app is the best battery saver. I broke my USB port on my Evo 4g and have to charge it using an external battery pack (have 3 extended batteries in constant rotation), and most nights it'll drop maybe 4%. Anyone who has an Evo would know is quite good because the thing just drinks batteries.

2/28/2012 9:08:33 PM

^ from everything i've read, AOSP is just as good at mitigating the horrific battery life on my thunderbolt...and i prefer it over CM7 (though i didn't keep CM7 on there very long before going back to AOSP liquid)

as i said, it's the data (wifi/3G/4G) that sucks the most battery life and i think the automatic disabling of data when the screen is off is how most battery apps achieve the 50%+ improvement...if they didn't mess with my other settings (i STILL can't figure how to keep my screen from dimming after 2 seconds...not sure which POS battery app changed it ), i'd be perfectly happy

2/28/2012 9:12:47 PM

Quote :

"i STILL can't figure how to keep my screen from dimming after 2 seconds...not sure which POS battery app changed it"

yeah, that's why you don't install every bs battery saver app you come across.

buy the batteries.
swap them.
profit.

tasker if you wanna be a nerd.

2/28/2012 9:35:10 PM

Quote :

"yeah, that's why you don't install every bs battery saver app you come across."

i tried only 2, and they are the 2 most highly rated on the market (both are 4.5/5 stars and one of them has more than 250k reviews votes)

Quote :

"buy the batteries. swap them. profit."

except that, again, this isn't a solution FOR ME

Quote :

"tasker if you wanna be a nerd."

i think i'll go this route and see if tasker will do what i want (and it sounds like it will)...if it works well without screwing up my other settings (which it shouldn't, given the nature of the app), i'll buy it

2/29/2012 9:00:36 AM

Quote :

"anybody know of a tethering app that allows for infrastructure wireless tethering (ie, not ad-hoc)?"

I posted this above, and I don't know if it would work for the TouchPad/your friend's situation, but with my Droid 2 I was able to connect to my ASUS Transformer via Bluetooth and it automatically shared the internet connection. It's worth a shot.

2/29/2012 9:33:56 AM

^^ using tasker is like writing code. if it screws something up it's your fault.

2/29/2012 10:27:20 AM

^ that's what i figured

2/29/2012 10:36:41 AM

^^^yeah he read somewhere that Wifi Tether supposedly worked with Bluetooth but he couldn't get it to work...were you using Wifi Tether or another app?

2/29/2012 11:01:51 AM

i may have missed it, but has he tried open garden's wifi tethering?

https://market.android.com/details?id=og.android.tether

it supports WPA2

2/29/2012 3:06:19 PM

I wasn't using any apps on the tablet. I had WiFi turned off and was using the phone's data connection. All I did was connect via bluetooth and it automatically did it; like if you connected a bluetooth headset which just works after you pair the devices.

2/29/2012 3:48:05 PM

^thanks but no dice...it pairs just fine, and the Internet access via Bluetooth box is checked, but no Internet

^^just now saw that post, i'll look into it

[Edited on February 29, 2012 at 7:41 PM. Reason : .]

2/29/2012 7:40:57 PM

my friend (a non-techie) is looking to upgrade her dumbphone to a smartphone...she's looking at the bionic because it's only $100...are there any others (besides the iphone 4) that she could get for $100 that would be better?

or is the iphone a better phone than the bionic? i haven't looked into it, but my gut is that the bionic is the winner between the two

[Edited on March 2, 2012 at 2:32 PM. Reason : .]

3/2/2012 2:30:07 PM

I wouldn't get the Bionic. Won't be getting (timely) updates and has shitty battery life with LTE turned on. It's also fairly big.

Go into the store and see how she feels about the difference in size. The iPhone may be too small or the Bionic too big. The Droid Incredible 2 is still a great phone for $10 and would probably be my choice, or step up to the Razr if the overall size doesn't matter a lot.

[Edited on March 2, 2012 at 2:45 PM. Reason : adf]

3/2/2012 2:44:46 PM

get the iphone over the bionic...just my opinion. especially for a non-tech.

3/2/2012 2:45:06 PM

And I would get an incredible 2 before an iphone.

3/2/2012 5:20:16 PM

Sprint and Asus better make the CDMA LTE Padfone available or I will cut someone.

3/2/2012 8:37:17 PM

get your friend a windows phone. the htc trophy is good and if she's a non-techie, she'll appreciate how easy it is to use.

3/2/2012 8:50:57 PM

I love my droid 4, but sorta want a razr maxx.

3/2/2012 11:23:49 PM

So I was wondering tonight, is there an Android equivalent to the iPod Touch? Like something rather full featured, preferably running ICS that is handheld but doesn't have a cellular chip (or I suppose more importantly a monthly contract) and can be bought for around $200? I suppose buying an older handset would be an option, but I'd like to buy something newish (and from what I understand, most of the older handsets don't run ICS anyway) Does something like this exist?

3/4/2012 2:29:12 AM

samsung has their version of the ipod. Have yet to see one in person and I don't think official ICS is going to happen, but http://www.samsung.com/us/mobile/galaxy-players if you're interested.

[Edited on March 4, 2012 at 7:49 AM. Reason : bhvg]

3/4/2012 7:48:05 AM

There's also a Sony version, the Walkman Z.

I don't think any of them are as good as the ipod touch.

From the reviews I've read, Android media players are all just media players built on a phone UI, which makes them kind of awkward and clumsy.
(Kind of like how the iphone is a phone built on a Media player ui)

[Edited on March 4, 2012 at 9:46 AM. Reason : ]

3/4/2012 9:45:45 AM

The sony is more expensive and doesn't have expandable storage, the main benefit of the Galaxy Player. The Sony is also only available from Sony directly right now so you can't go down to a store and try it out.

3/4/2012 9:53:21 AM

I was about to text someone and somehow I didn't have any contacts...somehow my Google account was removed from the phone...I logged back into it and my contacts all came back, but all my text messages just show the phone numbers, even though I have all of them in my contacts

any ideas?

--

just got a text, the contact's name showed up on the status bar up top, but the conversation string still showed just the phone number

[Edited on March 4, 2012 at 7:42 PM. Reason : i dunno]

3/4/2012 7:22:50 PM

looks like its working again, oh well

3/4/2012 8:19:22 PM

How do you guys feel about the Samsung Note? Too big to be used as a phone? Too small for a tablet? Don't know how I feel about the pen...like whether or not I'd ever use it. But it seems they've hid it pretty well to where it won't get in the way/be wasted space even if I don't use it.

I'm interested. Was wanting to get a phone and a tablet...but don't know if I need/want a tablet enough. I'm sure the battery life will be pretty shitty though.

3/6/2012 7:51:09 AM

if I needed to take notes, I'd get a note. otherwise it's too big for a phone.

3/6/2012 7:58:16 AM

Meet Google Play (the rebranded Google Books/Music/Movies/Android Market):

https://play.google.com/about/



And get a bunch of discounted Android apps for $0.49 right now:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/collection/promotion_2012_03_06_AppsFavorites

3/6/2012 5:16:12 PM

Holy shit thx dude!

3/6/2012 8:05:00 PM

plz convince me not to buy an ipad 3

2048px
quad core graphics
11666mAh battery
4G LTE


but i'm a diehard android fan and iOS kinda sucks. those hardware specs are to die for though...except the weight and thickness of course...and no microSD card slot...but plz...convince me!

3/11/2012 1:05:40 PM

Don't be a sheep.

3/11/2012 2:54:22 PM

Sony Tablet S on sale for $297 ($267 if you have a company/organization EPP).

http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10551&storeId=10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921666369303&XID=A:4485850:CJ&ref=http://slickdeals.net/f/4053050-Sony-Tablet-S-16GB-297-23-and-32GB-363-25-Refurbished-Free-shipping?p=48372816&utm_source=dealalerts&utm_medium=em-i&utm_term=2869&utm_content=u8941&utm_campaign=tu2

I'm sitting on the checkout page, but the tax puts it at $292, and I just can't bring myself to buy it. Thoughts, Android threadders? The IR remote is a big plus, and I've played with one in store and really liked the odd form factor.

Should I get this, or continue to wait for a sub 300 transformer, or sub 350 prime, or sub 300 ipad2?

[Edited on March 11, 2012 at 3:13 PM. Reason : . choices!]

3/11/2012 3:12:28 PM

You'd be better off getting the Acer A200 for $350. It has the Tegra 2.0 CPU in it, and I am not sure if the Sony tablet has ICS, but the A200 does (upgrade has rolled out for it). I think the battery life on the A200 is slightly better as well.

http://www.amazon.com/Acer-Iconia-A200-10g16u-10-1-Inch-Titanium/dp/tech-data/B006XGCQ2U/ref=de_a_smtd

3/11/2012 4:46:03 PM

They are both using the Tegra2, both with 1gb ram. ICS will be out on the Sony in the next month or two.

The Acer is $50 more, no IR, no bluetooth.

3/11/2012 4:56:00 PM

Quote :

"Don't be a sheep."

You do of course realize that making your purchasing decision based on what other people buy and think is quite literally, the definition of being a sheep, right?

So your advice to him equates to "be a sheep, just don't be one of those sheep."

3/11/2012 5:34:11 PM

^^ There is Bluetooth on the A200.

3/11/2012 6:20:41 PM

are there any android tablets that can play scene mkvs without conversion first?

3/12/2012 11:15:34 AM

tegra 3 can

So transformer prime + GPS issues or wait for the transformer pad infinity?

3/13/2012 7:34:48 AM

^ I have the prime and am very happy with it. If you dont need the new screen of the infinity I would go with the prime.

3/13/2012 7:43:59 AM

Who wouldn't want the 1920 over the 1200? Lol

3/13/2012 8:13:30 AM

scratched it. the wifi issues seemed like too much of a risk even though i could get it for 600 with keyboard dock right now...

i can wait...i already have a kindle fire and tablets are toys more or less anyways...

[Edited on March 13, 2012 at 1:58 PM. Reason : .]

3/13/2012 1:58:15 PM

anybody play Gang Wars?

DE199 is my code

3/13/2012 7:45:19 PM

Quote :

"600 with keyboard dock right now"

That's basically full retail price. I would DEFINITELY wait.

3/13/2012 9:23:02 PM

in uber super phones in the pipeline? i'm due for an upgrade soon

3/13/2012 10:40:27 PM