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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Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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
Im a proud owner of DesireZ, got it from my provider for free, and I could not possibly think of a better phone than this. On stock clock - it runs high graphic games, and it runs smooth. I really cant imagine what would someone do with announced Exynos 2Ghz on SGS3, apart from resolution requirements. But than again, everything above ~250ppi is just retarded, by my standards. This HTC phone is perfect for me.
so, my question is -
1. need to replace stock rom with something good
2. need fully working phone (camera also, so no ICS for me, I guess )
3. need info on Sense version that doesnt cause bugs and problems, cause I have read lots of topics with people complaining. (lagging after couple of hours, need restart and so on)
4. CM, or ICS, or some pre-tunned Gingerbread .. ?
As I have done this before with some similar devices, please link the following to me:
1. root instructions
2. backup instructions
3. best OS by my requirements (smoothness, no bugs, and pre-installed OC software are priority)
and that's it
Im sorry in advance, cause there will surely be someone that says - use search, but Im making it like this cause regular visitors of site can find that with much more ease than I could. Appreciate help in advance.
Welcome to the DZ/G2 forums!
The procedure of using gfree to root and carrier unlock your DZ is in my signature. Depending on your current installed version of ROM, you may or may not have to downgrade your phone.
The most stable versions of ROMs that I have personally tried are the following.
Virtuous Sense: The closest stock DZ ROM you can get with optimizations and tweaks. It's been debloated of carrier crap and has an OC kernel up to 1.5GHz if I am not mistaken. The best GB Sense experience you can get IMO.
Virtuous G-Lite: The closest stock G2 ROM you can get with optimizations and tweaks. Debloated of T-Mobile's carrier crap and also OC-able to about 1.5GHz. Very light weight and able to go out 2-3 days on the stock battery on a single charge depending on usage. I would, however, recommend ditching LauncherPRO in favor of GOLauncherEX though.
Thanks man!
It is not carrier locked, cause supply stock of Serbian Telekom was only few and they didnt bother, it is a plain simple out-of-the-factory Desire Z.
If I choose G-lite, can I flash my regular DesireZ, are there limitations between G2/DZ .. ?
Does OC-ing to, lets say - 1.2Ghz shorten battery life ?
I like this G-lite, as I am aware of the fact that Android generally drains much more than other OSes, as I had HTC Blackstone. 4 days on WM6.5, 1 day on Android.
If you want a Sense 3.5 ROM, but a bit refreshed, I've been using Android Revolution for a few days and it's amazingly smooth compared to the other 3.5 ones.
I would HIGHLY recommend G2 Slim. It's the latest t-mobile release of gingerbread for the G2, but it has nearly everything unnecessary removed and it has the best battery life out of ALL the ROMs on our devices.
It's a very smooth ROM with all features working, it is a bit basic but there's nothing you can't really fix with apps from the market. It's very very fast, has ridiculous amounts of free RAM, it's great with multitasking and it's even very quick when it comes to app performance.
Virtuous G-Lite is basically the same as G2 Slim, except it's much faster. It seems like the extra speed of G-Lite comes at the cost of battery life though. That said, the battery life on both of those ROMs is amazing, so you can't go wrong with either of them.
Otherwise, if you're looking for something different and a little bit fun, try out the latest gingerbread release of MIUI . You will fall in love with the theming abilities of that ROM.
Get miui, looks good, and just works. ... MIUI Android (GB)
I would highly recommend AOSP, be it G2Slim or EliteMod.
Sense and MIUI can be fun to play with, but they're just toys IMO and like to eat your RAM and battery life. They do each offer some pretty kickin' features that AOSP doesn't but I still prefer the base experience as it offers the most stability, battery-life, and overall smoothness.
Happy to hear you like the phone, I'm going on a year and a month now and I still love it! I have nothing but praises for this thing, the flash even almost survived me! But alas I have to replace it after one too many accidental hits of the Torch quick setting.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using XDA Premium HD via my tethered HTC Vision
buxtahuda said:
I would highly recommend AOSP, be it G2Slim or EliteMod.
Sense and MIUI can be fun to play with, but they're just toys IMO and like to eat your RAM and battery life. They do each offer some pretty kickin' features that AOSP doesn't but I still prefer the base experience as it offers the most stability, battery-life, and overall smoothness.
Happy to hear you like the phone, I'm going on a year and a month now and I still love it! I have nothing but praises for this thing, the flash even almost survived me! But alas I have to replace it after one too many accidental hits of the Torch quick setting.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using XDA Premium HD via my tethered HTC Vision
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with this, G2 Slim and Virtuous G-lite are both fantastic AOSP ROMs that you should try out.
I like how you all automatically assume that I know the "AOSP" abreviation, but google helped me on that one
played last night with all OS-es you recommended, and in the process I made a routine with flashing so now I know what im doing, and this is hard - in terms of what to choose It is now that I actually see the potential of this phone. XDA support for this device is just awesome, one of the most supported devices generally.
@buxtahuda - had a lots of smartphones before this one, all lost due to failures:
HD2 - was crappy in terms of assemble, got loose and had really bad plastic. When I opened it it was clear that HTC assembly was not good at that time
iPhone 3g - after 6 months of usage without protection and pocket time, it looked like it had a fight with Optimus Prime.
SGS1 - fell from 2 feet and the scene looked like I dropped i light bulb - into 100 pieces. even Cornig Gorilla glass that has only one flaw - side pressure, managed to crack
DesireZ is on a whole another level. I actually managed to drop it 5th day of usage because I replaced bundle headphones (that's the only thing that sucks) and didnt have cable-control, and trying to change a song while running on high-cardio excercise (weight loss process). It fell down also having momentum cause of running and it tubmled for 4-5 meters:
still cant find where are the scratches. really, I placed it under a magnifying glass and I cant find where are the scratches from f'in concrete! awesome materials and assembly by HTC
Rooting your phone, getting S-OFF to install other Roms
Hello and have fun with your Desire Z!
Full instructions for HTC Desire Z and T-Mobile G2 Root and FULL S-OFF can be found on http://forum.xda-developers.com/wiki/index.php?title=HTC_Vision#Rooting_the_G2
When you need support for getting S-OFF you can join the IRC channel #G2ROOT on freenode. Browser access on webchat.freenode.net . After joining the IRC webchat you can change to channel #G2ROOT using the command "/join #G2ROOT".
My favorite ROMs for the HTC Desire Z are:
* Virtuous Affinity 2.05: A little bit slow, but great experience
* Virtuous G-Lite 2.0.1: Very fast, some special software might have issues
* CyanogenMod 7.1: Great overall ROM, respectable speed and stable.
Try the ROMs and decide for yourself!
For backing up applications I recommend using Titanium Backup (Pro), for backing up your system you can use ClockworkRecovery and RomManager.
When you want to install more than one ROM on your phone at the same time then try BootManager (from Google Play). Might not work with all ROMs but is really good to try things!
Good Luck.
Congrats on your new phone! The Desire Z is starting to show its age, but considering the developer base and the fact that you got it for free, I'd say you got a pretty good deal.
Personally, I like MIUI and CyanogenMod 7. CM7 is a classic, and everyone loves it for the degree to which it preserves stock Android, while adding on a few improvements here and there. MIUI, on the other hand, gives you a complete re-imagining of the Android interface, and it can be great to use. I find myself alternating between the two every couple months, actually. That's the beauty of the Desire Z, though: the widespread developer support means you get that kind of flexibility!
I agree that Cyanogenmod 7 is fantastic but for me, i could NEVER eliminate the constant battery drain issues that i had with it no matter what. I'd still recommend it to newcomers but i think simpler ROMs like G-lite or G2 Slim are much better.
I generally like to have a clean and consistent looking UI on any ROM that i use and CM7's styling seemed to always take a way from the stock gingerbread feel that i was looking for. That's my opinion.
Right now, i'm using Virtuous G-lite and now i know what it's like to have a really really fast phone xD.
As far as Sense ROMs go, my experience showed me that Virtuous Affinity 2.05.0 was the fastest and most stable out of all the Sense 3.* ROMs.
After many tries, I decided to stay on G-lite mainly cause of the battery, but I would also like to give a chance to Virtuous Sense, cause it seemed (for a hour of usage) like a pretty decent ROM.
MIUI reppeled me with the iPhony look, that's sometnig I want to avoid in the future, even if it has only a fraction to do with rotten Apple.
The best option would be, if anyone ever creates it, ICS based system with the "strip-down" settings like G-lite. that I would like very much
Anyways, this phone is Awesome. I did not have a hype like this with any other phone, and as I stated, I had them all shortly after release (HD2, SGS1, iPhone 3G). The only thing that's bothering me is metal back-cover which I guess will be all bumpy in the future (I hate putting my phone in covers and skins) But I guess I could recreate it out of metal, since I am good with power tools and fine cutting of stuff, and like to do that kind of projects
Hello OG's!!! I have been lurking here for about week trying to decide between the S4, OG, and One. I went with the OG because the handset was just too gorgeous, even if it was released 10 months ago, the specs are still on par with anything being released right now. So I took the free upgrade to the OG instead of forking out for the others. My question (as an avid flasher) is what were you looking to correct when you flashed the phone. I always ended up flashing because I hated the skins or I wanted to go from GB to ICS to JB. So for those here who have jumped into rooting this phone, what was it that you felt the need to improve? Battery life? Just straight up AOSP? Wonky camera software? I've been playing for a couple of hours and so far I am happy with the camera (a little patience is required to get a really good shot) and I'm flipping around through the OS and the skin seems to be pretty light compared to HTC and Samsung. I think if I just load Holo Launcher and disable some apps I might be happy on stock. Until 4.3 or KLP get released.
Androidawg said:
Hello OG's!!! I have been lurking here for about week trying to decide between the S4, OG, and One. I went with the OG because the handset was just too gorgeous, even if it was released 10 months ago, the specs are still on par with anything being released right now. So I took the free upgrade to the OG instead of forking out for the others. My question (as an avid flasher) is what were you looking to correct when you flashed the phone. I always ended up flashing because I hated the skins or I wanted to go from GB to ICS to JB. So for those here who have jumped into rooting this phone, what was it that you felt the need to improve? Battery life? Just straight up AOSP? Wonky camera software? I've been playing for a couple of hours and so far I am happy with the camera (a little patience is required to get a really good shot) and I'm flipping around through the OS and the skin seems to be pretty light compared to HTC and Samsung. I think if I just load Holo Launcher and disable some apps I might be happy on stock. Until 4.3 or KLP get released.
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Welcome to the community!
Glad you chose the OG, It's an awesome phone, with a great dev community
Androidawg said:
Hello OG's!!! I have been lurking here for about week trying to decide between the S4, OG, and One. I went with the OG because the handset was just too gorgeous, even if it was released 10 months ago, the specs are still on par with anything being released right now. So I took the free upgrade to the OG instead of forking out for the others. My question (as an avid flasher) is what were you looking to correct when you flashed the phone. I always ended up flashing because I hated the skins or I wanted to go from GB to ICS to JB. So for those here who have jumped into rooting this phone, what was it that you felt the need to improve? Battery life? Just straight up AOSP? Wonky camera software? I've been playing for a couple of hours and so far I am happy with the camera (a little patience is required to get a really good shot) and I'm flipping around through the OS and the skin seems to be pretty light compared to HTC and Samsung. I think if I just load Holo Launcher and disable some apps I might be happy on stock. Until 4.3 or KLP get released.
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Click to collapse
As far as the camera, download the Google Play Edition Camera apk. Way better. As far as launchers, go with either nova launcher or Apex launcher with a JB Skin. I use it over holo launcher because I can hide apps in the app drawer and make the search bar persistent. I also use Holo Locker as my lock screen.
Sent from my LG-LS970 using xda premium
This is an awesome phone with great devs. Just make sure you unlock the bootloader before debloating
Sent from my LG-LS970 using xda app-developers app
This device is one of the best you can get, and at the same time, can be one of the biggest pains you can buy as well. But, with some patience, balls, and a little insight, you can be running anything you want. If your interests are more towards stock, Lifeless and Vectus are both very good ROMs with plenty of features. If you prefer custom ROMs with lots of extras and choices, I personally would recommend one of the ROMs I work on, Beanstalk and JellyBeer. There are also AOKP, CM10, CM10 w/ Linaro, Rootbox, and others that will give you pretty much any kind of experience you want. Just make sure you read the rooting and unlocking thread very carefully and follow the instructions to the letter to avoid any hiccups. Also worth mentioning is the fact that all ROMs do have quirks and imperfections to them(I believe Lifeless is as close to complete stability as you can get, but it also is as close to stock as any of the others). All of these works are constantly being updated with fixes and new features, but our device can be finicky, so if you require total stability, you may just want to stay with stock. If you need any help, you can PM me, and if you want to learn to build on your own, take a look at Project Rookie II. Be cool
Welcome. I myself had to make a decision between this and the other 2 phones. I'm glad in a way I went with this 1. Its definitely on par with the other "big names" and its just as good spec wise. Only problem i have is the camera when its zoomed. I'm going to try the google play edition like danny stated. As far as rom goes, I believe Lifeless has pretty much the most stable rom going. Its pretty much stock but without bloat. Battery has been good to me, only app that I had problems with was Pro Player, so I got GMMP and its been better on the battery. Great phone overall but kit didn't get the recognition it deserved.
I dont really know LG's track record on phones, but I hope they dont EOL it before KLP. I have a feeling they will because OG2 and OG Pro are out, but then again like I said I dont know how LG works.
I am still completely stock, just added a new launcher, locker, and the Play Camera. I have a completely working photosphere (awesome, something I really missed from my Gal Nex). I have noticed that when taking macro shots, the Play Camera focuses better. But I was able to get some decent macro shots on the stock camera by getting the focus set from farther back and zooming in. I am still tinkering with white balance and ISO settings. But the flash seems to be bright as the sun and I can't do much with it, my pics keep getting washed out with the flash. But the performance, holy crap this thing is fun to use. Everything just pops.