Ok, so I got myself a G1.
For those considering getting one of these I must post a few words.
It's really really not that much different regarding speed and stability from my nand flashed Kaiser (kais130), running a stable Eclair build, seriously, I kid you not, and I'm not talking raw processor speed here ( dammit it's nearly the same processor, top speed using setcpu is 576, really not much difference there), feels much the same, looks much the same. ( ok perhaps a little sharper, but that's a user-relative thing), all the same apps perform much the same.
The big shock was battery, it's quite frankly terrible compared to my Kaiser, ok so this may be the old 'battery calibration' thing, but I was shocked at it hitting 8% by lunchtime, my kaiser takes 2 days to reach that level, and yes, I did use a bit more data and gps than usual, but not enough to account for that high a drain. And it does get a little warmer, reminds me of the old days, (january-feb 2010), when we were first using Android on kaiser, hot phones and fast drain.
Flashing is scary, I mean Scary!, all sorts of warnings about bricking your phone, and it's not the nice gentle 'this may brick your phone' this is big red letters, DangerSPL is just that, accidentally flash an older radio with that and it's instabrick, and a visit to men in white coats who understand what JTAG is and have huge wallets.
So am I happy with my G1? Well yeah, I've got the only thing that gives it the edge over my kaiser, Google Sky Map, the Scotsman in me reminds me that £79 is a lot of money, the Uber-Nerd in me opens Sky Map and tells the Scotsman to shut up and look at spica, or the southern cross...........
Oh and with a load of 2 year contracts finishing in the next few months, Ebay is probably going to be seeing quite a few of these.
Why a G1 anyway? The keyboard, and Android, My Kaiser left me hooked on both, and really, there isn't much out there that offers both, so be kind to your Kaiser, it's a great little bit of kit, sure it's old now, but really, it's just as good as a G1, yes I can use Sky Map, but I gotta put it on charge afterward........
You mean the G1 I forgot to bid on lol
Nice write up !
i planned to buy G1, feel so good now
Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G using XDA App
wyxpark said:
i planned to buy G1, feel so good now
Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G using XDA App
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I think this thread will make a lot of people smile, including me!! I too have been looking at G1's but I love my kaiser and it works so i've always resisted the temptations. Don't know how i'll resist if HTC bring out a new android phone with a keyboard though!!!
What do think about that rolly ball d-pad thing?
Sent from my T-Mobile myTouch 3G using XDA App
Ya I had considered the G1 too.
The screen is a 'little' bigger.
Doesn't it run a old version of Android, are there 'official' updates for it? will it run 2.2?
Personally I was thinking along the lines of getting a Milestone.
I have had my Stellar now for 2 years, (and that was 2nd hand too!) so why would I replace it with a phone that is just as old
I do like the Hero, my friend has one of those, but I miss the keyboard, I struggle to use the onscreen one since I can't 'feel' the keys, I need a hardware keyboard, so that limits the phones I can choose.
Guess I'll be sticking with my Stellar for a while yet, though you notice just how small a 2.8" screen is now, when everyone else has at least 4"!
leona said:
you notice just how small a 2.8" screen is now, when everyone else has at least 4"!
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And you ladies have us believe size doesn't matter
Ok, day 2, battery life seems a little better, but that's with a 2300mah battery instead of the standard one, still say it's heavier on the battery than my kais though, it is a better handwarmer for certain, theres a discernible warmth to the lower part of the back right side after a call or using gps for a bit.
The trackball actually functions quite nicely, I have heard that some people don't like it, but I find it as useful as the scroll wheel on the kaiser, in other words, I don't use it that often, but when I do, it does what it needs to, no fuss, no messing about.
As far as customisation goes, it usually ships with 1.6 these days, but after rooting it'll go all the way to CM 6 ( Cyanogen Mod 6 = 2.2 ), although I went the CM5 ( 2.1), route myself, ( still requires DangerSPL).
With the stock 1.6 it does feel nice and fast, and has a decent amount of free space for apps, more than comparable donut builds on kaiser, but with Eclair it starts to get a little tight in there, in fact with a careful bit of tweaking I can get more free space on my kais than I can on the G1. ( at the moment both have nearly the same apps installed, G1 after taskiller = 31Mb, kais after taskiller 36Mb ).
No I am not saying the Kaiser is better than the G1, nor am I saying the G1 is better than the Kaiser, what I am saying is that I am finding they are very similar.
Can I recommend the G1 over a Kaiser with nand flashed Android, yes, but only just. The G1 has everything working after all, wifi, bt, gps, camera, video, etc etc, and so they should, the OS is designed for the hardware after all.
If you absolutely need a fully functional android phone with hardware keyboard, the G1 is a good choice, and you get what you pay for.
If you don't really need all the bells and whistles, such as video, autofocus and such, well why not stick with your kaiser, suitably nand flashed with a good stable build, it really is a lovely little machine, yes it is still work in progress, but I'm not ready to chuck mine out, I fully intend to keep it, and now I'm able to do some of the things I couldn't when it was my main phone, such as messing about with builds etc.
I had them both (2 kaisers and one G1): now only one G1.
It's slow if you use it to it's full potential (using lot's of widget's to display everything I need).
It had 1.6installed when I got it, but never used it, straight to CM 5.0.7 test3.
DangerSPL isn't really needed and isn't dangerous at all. MTD is very nice
I use fastboot all the time (is needed for CM6 too; fastboot erase system -x).
There are some nice apps like droidexplorer,... that son't work for the kaiser.
gps fix is really fast (copilot) and most gps offline programs work on hvga compared to the kaiser
The screen (much better for direct sunlight, sharper, multitouch, and finger friendly (not like kaiser!).
I'm on CM 5.0.8 (apps2froyo doesn't work good with tons off apps), waiting for CM 6.1 (but it's not really needed anyway).
Camera is actually very good compared to the windows mobile camera.
Don't use a taskiller (>1.6), use swap instead (swapper, 32-64 or 96MB swap, swappiness 40-60)!
I can multitask 6 GPS programs, read my mails,surf and go back without reloading.
Sound is actually very good compared to kaiser.
getting a Milestone
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It's expensive compared to G1 (around 100€-80dollar) and the bootloader is a motorola, it's encrypted (no custom updates ).
I bought an unlocked telus milestone a few weeks ago, it came with 2.1 update. I paid close to $500 us. For what i do with my phone, the kaiser nand flashed to mynswarmdonut works fine.Not nearly as flashy. I gave my son the milestone, I'll keep the kaiser for now. I bet my old kaiser will last as long as the new motorola.
Hi zenity, so how are things with the G1 now you have had time to use it a bit more?
You don't mention that the G1 has a digial Compass and the motion sensors that the Kaiser doesn't have, do you use / notice them?
Been reading some of the threads on the G1 forums, they seem really active too, seems like 2.2 has been ported and working. Also see that over clocking the G1 seems common, did I see they had it up to 700Mhz! that must kill the battery and be really unstable. But its stock is 528Mhz whereas the Kaiser is 400Mhz that is quite a bit of difference.
I think I will keep my eye on Ebay and see if I can pick up a cheap one.
I would just like to try one to see how a 'proper' android phone works.
FlanFlinger said:
And you ladies have us believe size doesn't matter
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Do you not remember the old Renault Advert, "Size Matters" !
If Anyone is interested, here is a comparison of the specifications from the HTC website
Kaiser/Dream G1
Processor Qualcomm® MSM7200TM, 400MHz / Qualcomm® MSM7201A™, 528 MHz
Memory ROM: 256MB / ROM: 256 MB
RAM: 128MB SDRAM / RAM: 192 MB
Display 2.8", 240 X 320 QVGA TFT-LCD / 3.2" 320 x 480 HVGA TFT-LCD
Size LxWxD: 112mm X 59mm X 19mm / 117.7 mm x 55.7 mm x 17.1 mm
Battery Type:Li-polymer / Type: Lithium-ion
Capacity:1350 mAh / Capacity: 1150 mAh
After making my head spin looking at milestones, Desire's and X10's I had a mad moment and have gone for a Galaxy S, this caused much muttering from the wife along the lines of "€100 for a phone!", then I just pointed out that it equated to about 5 pairs of shoes (she's a cheap date ) or one shiny chrome thing to bolt on her Harley (that I have to polish for her coincidently).
It should be arriving tomorrow, so if anyone is interested in an almost spotless Kaiser for €80 then let me know
leona said:
Hi zenity, so how are things with the G1 now you have had time to use it a bit more?
You don't mention that the G1 has a digial Compass and the motion sensors that the Kaiser doesn't have, do you use / notice them?
Been reading some of the threads on the G1 forums, they seem really active too, seems like 2.2 has been ported and working. Also see that over clocking the G1 seems common, did I see they had it up to 700Mhz! that must kill the battery and be really unstable. But its stock is 528Mhz whereas the Kaiser is 400Mhz that is quite a bit of difference.
I think I will keep my eye on Ebay and see if I can pick up a cheap one.
I would just like to try one to see how a 'proper' android phone works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After a little while to settle in, I'm still of the opinion that it is not really noticeably faster in use, 400/528Mhz is not really a huge difference, nor is the extra 64Mb of RAM a huge advantage either, in fact as I said before it seems to run out of RAM faster than my kaiser.
I do love it on a decent Eclair build however, it does perform much smoother than my kaiser, perhaps CM6 is not quite as optimal on G1.
Battery life has stabilised a little, but in my opinion is worse than kaiser, however that may have something to do with the relative capacities of the standard batteries, that said, I have a charger at work, and I need it on occasion, and thats with the extended battery, ( my G1 is now about the same size as my kaiser, lol.
I do agree about the screen, it is larger, and more useable in bright light, the image is clear and crisp, and the surface feels nice and firm, unlike resistive touchscreens, which have a tendency to feel a little spongy.
Things I love? As I said before, google sky is to die for if you are a astronomy nerd like myself, and that uses the sensors to the maximum, just the idea of using a phone like a viewport to the stars amazes me, and it works, point it at your feet and it appears to look right through the earth.
GPS is faster to lock, but that may be due to cell tower assistance, however my favourite GPS app, (trekbuddy), has been ported to android, so I'm a happy bunny over that.
I love the new DSP additions to CM6, finally an android with real equalisation, and effects, for playing my favourite music, big bass and large room reverb has to be heard to be believed, can't wait until someone ports that to CM5, so I can have it on eclair too
My Kaiser isn't being neglected however, I am trying to keep up to date on the latest stuff, and the latest builds, however my secondary Kaiser may be getting a makeover, if I get the time it's gonna be a KaiserBot ( hint: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIQ8VtDU3W8 ).
All in all, I'm lucky not to have to decide which to keep, because it would be a hard decision, both are about equal overall, the only major difference being the completeness of the android experience, g1 wins there I'm afraid, but then, it is the original Google Android Phone.
Can I recommend getting a G1? Hell yeah, If you are aware of it's potential problems it's a good replacement for a kaiser, if you demand a hardware keyboard, if you are not afraid to mess with it getting it rooted and flashable, if you know it really needs an extended battery and are prepared to put up with the added bulk, it's worth it, ( but try not to spend over £90, that'd be about my limit on it ).
Anyway, got to go flash back to my favoured eclair build, CM6 is being a memory hog again, so it's gotta go
Nice write-up Zenity, thank you for taking the time to follow this up, I will defiantly been checking ebay, but I'm even tighter then you, £50 tops ! (yes I do have lots of shoes and clothes, but I only buy in the sales and never pay over the ods).
I have been browsing the G1 Threads already, getting some information and getting a feel as to what can be done, I read what you said about reflashing the rom and came across this thread and wondered if you had seen it.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=627518
If I understand this correctly this means you don't need to install DangerSPL or anything to get a rom, if its 'shunk' down enough.
Reading though the G1 threads I wondered if there are things they are doing that could be useful for our Kiasers, aka shrinking Rom's using CACHE directory's, SWAP partitions and EXT3 (I know its not supported at the moment, but could it be?).
Is Android development done in isolation, or do devs look through different forums and use ideas from one to another? (if compatible?)
As far as DangerSPL is concerned, it is not needed if you can keep the system partition to less than 67Mb, however this pretty much restricts things, since theres only so much you can cut down before things get silly, that means on G1, Donut and maybe if you are really trimming out stuff, Eclair, forget Froyo, that's already over 90Mb, can't see how I would cut 23Mb out of that without really crippling something.
However DangerSPL is only dangerous if you go anywhere near radio, and as far as i have noticed, the minimum radio version for DangerSPL is fine anyway.
There is a certain amount of 'cross-pollination' between the devs, most tends to come our way, rather than us inspiring the 'main' android branches, however sometimes we add stuff too
As the main branch of Android customisation moves forward, so do we, just at a slightly slower pace, since in many cases it's not just as simple as copying a few files over, we have more restrictions, so we have to work harder, and smarter
Honestly, I gotta say.. the OP is right. I just recently traded my Kaiser and Rhodium for an Openmoko Neo Freerunner and a Rogers branded 911 patched HTC Dream, and the dream performs similarly to my old Kaiser....
.....until I rooted it and flashed Froyo with a kernel that allows for more that the 57some Mhz clock speed, enabled compcache and swap, and popped in an extended life battery, which incidentally makes the G1 more comfortable in my hands anyway. So now, that G1 out-performs even the Rhodium, and I just flashed the Freerunner with Froyo as well, and that's running rather smoothly too. So, all-in-all, I might have traded two awesome phones for (well, in my opinion two equally awesome phones, because I'm an OSS fanatic) two less-awesome phones, but after sinking a couple bucks and some time into them, I feel like I got a great deal.
agentfusion said:
Honestly, I gotta say.. the OP is right. I just recently traded my Kaiser and Rhodium for an Openmoko Neo Freerunner and a Rogers branded 911 patched HTC Dream, and the dream performs similarly to my old Kaiser....
.....until I rooted it and flashed Froyo with a kernel that allows for more that the 57some Mhz clock speed, enabled compcache and swap, and popped in an extended life battery, which incidentally makes the G1 more comfortable in my hands anyway. So now, that G1 out-performs even the Rhodium, and I just flashed the Freerunner with Froyo as well, and that's running rather smoothly too. So, all-in-all, I might have traded two awesome phones for (well, in my opinion two equally awesome phones, because I'm an OSS fanatic) two less-awesome phones, but after sinking a couple bucks and some time into them, I feel like I got a great deal.
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Actually, as stock the G1 is clocked at 300Mhz or so, mainly due to the whole heat issue, (anyone who has a G1 knows what I mean, and anyone who ran early versions of android on Kaiser also knows what I mean ).
Tried various 2.2 builds, and have not really found any that compare in speed and smoothness to 2.1 builds, but as always the tradeoff is features, lower versions get less love for newer features, such as DSP.
The extended battery should be standard on G1, it really does perform badly on the standard one, I have to have 2 chargers, one at home, and one at work, and even on extended battery I find myself topping up in the afternoon.
No doubts, it is a damn good bit of kit, and as the first Android mobile it is still special, but all in all, it really isn't a great deal better than my beloved kaiser, it is better in some areas, mostly things that our kaisers either don't have, accelerometer, compass, capacitive touchscreen. And it has everything working, unless you play with less developed builds, ( Sense UI comes to mind).
I am pretty much settled with the G1 being my main phone, my Kaiser is getting used and slightly abused for experimental stuff, my secondary kais is out on loan, sold my Diamond, and the iffy HD,( it has a really weird sound issue, speaker works fine, but after boot it thinks the headset is plugged in, suspect a hardware fault), is lying on my workbench shelf.
Kaiser was my first love as far as android goes, always will be, the G1 is just a phone
zenity said:
Actually, as stock the G1 is clocked at 300Mhz or so, mainly due to the whole heat issue, (anyone who has a G1 knows what I mean, and anyone who ran early versions of android on Kaiser also knows what I mean ).
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I know that. What I meant was that with the stock kernel the maximum you can set the clock speed to is around 576Mhz with SetCPU. What I have is an overclocking kernel that allows for over 800Mhz, but that's when it gets REALLY hot and battery drains super fast. I wouldn't suggest anything above 617Mhz though if you want it to be stable or usable.
As far as running android on Kaiser, I used that as an -almost- viable alternative to having an actual android phone. I was running android on my Kaiser from the very start of android-on-Kaiser because I'm a huge linux nerd and at&t didn't have any android phones until recently (I was just laid off from at&t in march from my middle-management position) so I definitely remember the extreme heat issues with early builds. Hell, that damn thing had such nasty heat issues that even when I was running winmo for tethering I had to take the backing off and stick thermal paste on the battery and apply a heatsink just to keep it from overheating to the point where it would stop charging completely, then discharge inside of 30 minutes from tethering on 3g.
zenity said:
Tried various 2.2 builds, and have not really found any that compare in speed and smoothness to 2.1 builds, but as always the tradeoff is features, lower versions get less love for newer features, such as DSP.
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If you want a froyo build that's fast and smooth, try the Froyo Redux builds. They run better than any other build I've tried. Of course, I'm sticking with 2.1 at the moment for themes and absolute stability. Really, all that 2.2 has over 2.1 is native Apps2SD, and more multi-touch, but since I already have Apps2SD installed and 2.1 has MT capabilities if you force-enable it (find a version of the app you want to use MT with that someone has already patched MT into.. Brut Google Maps is a good example). As far as DSP, Meh. My Dream is a phone, not a stereo system. I applied the audio hack for louder volume and that's good enough for me.
zenity said:
The extended battery should be standard on G1, it really does perform badly on the standard one, I have to have 2 chargers, one at home, and one at work, and even on extended battery I find myself topping up in the afternoon.
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Undoubtedly true. I have a 2200mAh battery, 2x 1400mAh, and a 1200mAh battery, and on days of heavy blogging and lots of photography, I find myself actually burning through all of them. I sometimes feel like I should be carrying a camera bag and be like the professional photographers but instead of changing rolls of film, I'm changing batteries.
zenity said:
No doubts, it is a damn good bit of kit, and as the first Android mobile it is still special, but all in all, it really isn't a great deal better than my beloved kaiser, it is better in some areas, mostly things that our kaisers either don't have, accelerometer, compass, capacitive touchscreen. And it has everything working, unless you play with less developed builds, ( Sense UI comes to mind).
I am pretty much settled with the G1 being my main phone, my Kaiser is getting used and slightly abused for experimental stuff, my secondary kais is out on loan, sold my Diamond, and the iffy HD,( it has a really weird sound issue, speaker works fine, but after boot it thinks the headset is plugged in, suspect a hardware fault), is lying on my workbench shelf.
Kaiser was my first love as far as android goes, always will be, the G1 is just a phone
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I'm honestly more amped up about my Dream than I ever was about my Kaiser, except maybe the first time I successfully booted android via Haret. To me, the larger screen, it being capacitive, the accelerometers, and the compass are a big deal. I can actually -use- the screen for typing if I don't feel like opening the keyboard, and I can get a landscaped keyboard just by turning it sideways, and with the capacitive screen, typing is a lot more accurate and feels nicer. Standard resistive touchscreens feel kinda 'gummy' to me, and I don't like 'em. And the compass is great for photography. When you're wandering in the woods for the perfect shot, and can't remember which way is which, it can literally be a big lifesaver.
All-in-all, Once you overclock a Dream/G1 to 617Mhz or beyond and get a bigger battery (or several) it becomes a superbeast, and it's like apples and oranges when comparing it to the Kaiser. Hardware wise, it's closer to a Rhodium than a Kaiser when you get down to it. The Rhodium clock is 528Mhz, and I run my Dream well beyond that all the time.
Hello peoples, Im looking for new ROM. One that has great batt life, one that will always get sms and mms. Any suggestions? I like sense ROM's and all the goodies that come with them. Also one that I can add my own touch to.
Stickies exist for a reason
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=701245
Yea I know stickes are there, but I want some first hand advice. Not something that was put together over time.
markjc12 said:
Yea I know stickes are there, but I want some first hand advice. Not something that was put together over time.
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In that case, the search feature exists for a reason.
**LINK**
Edit: By the way, nobody can tell you what ROM is the best. There are a plethora of ROMs out there. Half the fun of having a rooted phone is to get flash happy with various ROMs. You need to try out different ROM/kernel combinations and find which one has the features you want with the performance and battery sustainability you need. My setup works amazingly well for me. But I've seen people who have the exact same setup and have crap battery life, bugs in their system, or just don't like the UI. It's all user preference. Get flash happy until you find one that works best for you and your style.
for sure mikg 2.58 seneless. i use the no lock version. its legit. beast battery better than aosp and fast. using agressive freedom kernel. everything works.
The new FreshEvo 4.3.1 with the standard Freedom kernel has been giving my two Evo's over 12 hours with heavy usage. It runs smooth as "buddah"...
But it is a personal choice. Fresh is a Sense ROM, which may or may not be to your taste.
psiklone said:
for sure mikg 2.58 seneless. i use the no lock version. its legit. beast battery better than aosp and fast. using agressive freedom kernel. everything works.
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Really? I love my miui setup. It gets a full day from wake up to time I go to bed. I always thought aosp had better battery than sense. I might give Mikg a shot.
sent from my salvaged miui
markjc12 said:
Hello peoples, Im looking for new ROM. One that has great batt life, one that will always get sms and mms. Any suggestions? I like sense ROM's and all the goodies that come with them. Also one that I can add my own touch to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I run synergy with the carousel mod. has great battery life on my hardware and is the best when it comes to getting text/mms on time. I have tried almost every sense rom that has come out in the past 4 months and keep going back to synergy.
The Blazing Roms team working on FEARDEme and Hybrid really have something sweet going. Granted, they're still in late beta, but if you follow their thread and their site, they really have some great stuff.
HipKat said:
The Blazing Roms team working on FEARDEme and Hybrid really have something sweet going. Granted, they're still in late beta, but if you follow their thread and their site, they really have some great stuff.
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I agree that they are great stuff, I used FEARmede for a while and would still be on it, i just couldnt go without my 4g. If 4g is not a big deal for you then by all means take some of team blazes roms for a ride. Make sure to read the features on all of them, they differ a little from each other.
link to their forum
http://blazing-roms.com/forumdisplay.php/4-EVO-4G
Thank you all for the input and not telling me to search a sticky or that there is this or that for a "reason". You think I havent tried all sorts of ROMs/kernals? I cant tell you how many times I flashed a new ROM/kernal. I was hooked on flashing for a while, damn near had to go to rehab for that shyt. Yes, I know, every phone is different, but I just wanted some first hand advice from my fellow XDA'ers. I really apprecaite the feed back with the replies I got. So thank you all again. Time to get flash happy, woohooo!!!!
try the evo classic v0.0.3 by tommytomatoe one sweet Rom fast as a jackrabbit with a firecracker up his ass and I stay with about 225 RAM with my 7 homesreens full of widgets. and my battery lasts all day I can get 13 or so hrs of screen on time on my 3500 and about 6 or 7 on the stock battery and that's straight screen on almost the entire time cuz I never put my phone down. when I'm not on it all day my 3500 will go 12 plus hrs and be around 75% or so with moderate use but usually I overheat and bootloop b4 my battery dies from playing modern warfare 2 all damn day.