[Q] What is your opinion?

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curving_edge

Member
Mar 3, 2010
8
0
What's going on? To let you know, I am 25 years old and trying to rationalize my decision. Maybe you can help...

Got my Epic 2 days ago. Horrible battery life and ect... tried all the fixins without root due to a 'could be' voided warranty.

I don't want a phone that I have to hack to get it to work 'right'. That isn't the way to do things.

I am to much of an idiot to figure out how to root, delete bloatware, and etc... How am I supposed to figure this stuff out with people telling you that your a 'noob' and 'search' for it...

I might as well return the Epic and get a 'dumb' phone that does the basic phone call and text...

What do you think?
 
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westicle

Senior Member
May 3, 2010
593
40
Fort Smith
Return it and get a htc phone. I had the epic for 3 days, and really liked some of it, but really hated even more of it. Plus they fight too damn much here in the epic section.

Sent from my HERO200 using XDA App
 

Toast95135

Senior Member
Nov 10, 2010
323
80
These new smartphones don't get anywhere close to the battery life of old non-smart phones. I could get up to a week on my old feature phone, but a day to maybe two (when we get 2.2) is about what you can expect if you tweak a few things. Get used to plugging in your phone every night, all the power these phones have comes at a price. Plus I'm sure you're playing with your phone a lot right now since you just got it :p.

If you're getting bad battery life when the screen is off go into Settings>About Phone>Battery Use>Cell Standby and see what the "Time without signal says". If it's 50% or more then you have the bug, it's a common Android bug for phones without Froyo. Just toggle airplane mode on for a few seconds after you reboot your phone and it should go away.

The GPS is kind of fussy at the moment, the Epic has a problem with clearing old data out of the cache and so it has a hard time picking up satellites. There's a few workarounds to this like going into the GPS menu and changing how it starts up (personally it didn't work for me), rebooting the phone always works, but if you use the GPS a lot then it works fine. For me it worked about 70% of the time until I rooted and installed a program to clear the phone's cache every few hours, now it works 100%.

Don't be intimidated by rooting either, it's really easy now with all the good One Click setups. I did it on my Mac and it took no more then 10 minutes, unrooting is just as easy. I honestly wouldn't worry about voiding the warranty, until you get into flashing roms/kernals you won't be messing anything up if you want to root to get rid of bloatware etc.

Sprint's other phones like the Evo are nice too, but the Evo has it's own set of problems. Personally I love my SAMOLED screen :D and we should be getting Froyo soon.
 
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MaxPatlick

Senior Member
Nov 3, 2010
165
13
I've only had mine for about a week or so now and I really like it. I've discovered that particularly hungry apps will kill the battery in a hurry!

other than that, this being my first smartphone I've kinda been under the assumption that if you want to carry around a powerful computer in your pocket, you're going to have to make the trade off that it will burn a lot of battery when you use it. Especially since I'm still in the "open it up every few minutes just to be amazed at the amoled screen" phase where my display is consistently the #1 battery killer by a LONG shot..

so I'd say you should give it a chance but if you don't need or want a smart phone then don't drive yourself crazy with one and get a feature phone that can text and call if that's all you really need.
 

curving_edge

Member
Mar 3, 2010
8
0
These new smartphones don't get anywhere close to the battery life of old non-smart phones.

Don't be intimidated by rooting either, it's really easy now with all the good One Click setups. I did it on my Mac and it took no more then 10 minutes, unrooting is just as easy. I honestly wouldn't worry about voiding the warranty, until you get into flashing roms/kernals you won't be messing anything up if you want to root to get rid of bloatware etc.

Sprint's other phones like the Evo are nice too, but the Evo has it's own set of problems. Personally I love my SAMOLED screen :D and we should be getting Froyo soon.

Thanks for the reply. I wouldn't mind rooting the phone and have seen it done on youtube. That shouldn't be too hard. But how would I go about getting all the extra crap on there off? Does this alone improve battery life? If not, what do I delete?

Is waiting for 2.2 really going to be God sent for our phones? And will 2.2 erase all my hard work rooting it?

Thank You for your time... It means alot.
 

GXnext

Senior Member
Dec 21, 2006
70
1
38
East Orange
Try this... go into the "Account & sync" settings by pressing the menu button> settings> account & sync. then uncheck "auto-sync" that should increase battery, if that didn't increase battery enough for you uncheck background data as well. finally if your still not satisfied re-enable "background data" by checking it again and go to the android market and download 'QUICK SETTINGS" by Sergej Shafarenaka open it press the hardware menu button> customize and drag "Mobile data" (not the one that says APN) into "Visible settings" that way whenever you open "quick settings" you can toggle 3g on and off. with 3g off you can still text and receive and make phone calls and your battery will last over 2 days without charging. hope this help :) I have never rooted my epic btw.

For example this is how I have mines set up.

91774507.jpg


And only because I don't feel like trying to produce evidence of 2+ days with my phone due to the fact that I actually like using all of the fun battery killing apps that run in the background because I have a spare battery anyway.. the only time I really ever try to maximize my battery life (and no this does NOT mean by not using my phone, because trust me i'm the perfect example of that windows phone ad :p im always in my phone! and i never let it die without a spare lol) is on the weekends I when I party all day & night, or some sort of rare special occasion where I know I'm not going to see a outlet for a long time.

snap20101013155717.png


anyway heres a example of whats possible by doing the last things i suggested (despite the fact whoever screen captured this achieved it a different way) basically disable internet whenever your not using it. just goes to show there are many ways to maximize your battery. this is just one of the ways I do it... and I feel this is highly effective.

These smartphones needs a one click "energy saver mode" that just does all the tweaks for you, basically turning your "smartphone" into a "dumbphone" lol because I honestly have little doubt this phone would last nearly a weak if it did.
 
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bomix

Senior Member
Dec 11, 2008
229
4
What's going on? To let you know, I am 25 years old and trying to rationalize my decision. Maybe you can help...

Got my Epic 2 days ago. Horrible battery life and ect... tried all the fixins without root due to a 'could be' voided warranty.

I don't want a phone that I have to hack to get it to work 'right'. That isn't the way to do things.

I am to much of an idiot to figure out how to root, delete bloatware, and etc... How am I supposed to figure this stuff out with people telling you that your a 'noob' and 'search' for it...

I might as well return the Epic and get a 'dumb' phone that does the basic phone call and text...

What do you think?

Get a dumb phone the battery will last you a week! oh and you can make and receive calls from it. My vote
 

muyoso

Senior Member
Oct 23, 2007
2,492
492
There are so many threads on here where people tell you exactly how to get amazing battery life out of your phone. It must be a defunct battery because I cannot comprehend how anyone could be having problems with their battery after the number of times its been answered on this forum alone.

Disable DRM
toggle airplane mode
wifi never sleep
juicedefender + ultimate juice

Easily 20-24 hours of battery life for medium use.
 

ravizzle

Senior Member
Dec 16, 2009
1,098
140
Sacramento
If u want batt life get a dumb phone. If u want geautures get a smartphone. I can't live without a smartphone bc I use it like a computer to stay connected all day when I'm away from home. If u feel u don't really need all the feutures get a dumb phone.

Sent from my Epic 4G
 

curving_edge

Member
Mar 3, 2010
8
0
Thank You for your replies thus far. I am pleased to inform you that I went back to the sprint store and got a brand new replacement. New battery and everything.

I have followed all of your directions as well. I will post soon and let you know how everything is.

I have alot of confidence in the epic but wish the battery wasn't giving me a epic headache!:rolleyes:

Wish me luck, I owe you guys alot of respect. Will keep you posted...
 

dhero1

Senior Member
Mar 11, 2010
409
32
I might as well return the Epic and get a 'dumb' phone that does the basic phone call and text...

What do you think?

Sounds like you're not smartphone friendly. Many people I know are not. But luckily there's a large and varied assortment of devices to choose from. Get a phone that makes phone calls, and maybe messages well, and be happy. :)
 

curving_edge

Member
Mar 3, 2010
8
0
I have had the phone off the charger since yesterday at 11pm and it is now 2 pm eastern time today. Looks great and promising. I will follow up on the research. I also have seen 'how to' root the epic on youtube. Thats easy, just working on how to get the bloatware off and other items to tweak...

-Curv
 

Zardos66

Senior Member
Jun 5, 2010
366
12
I have no idea how people get more than a day out of their phones, no matter the model. Every phone I've ever owned ranging from dumb, quick messeging and smart, I've had to charge every night. Its been like this for 6+ years for me.

Getting more than a day out of a phone is unrealistic to me.

Sent from my bathroom, with toilet paper.
 

sryans2004

Senior Member
Dec 2, 2009
366
17
Finally 4G, Pennsylvania
When I first got my phone it took me awhile to learn the basics on how to root and what not, hence the fact it was my first android device (other then the evo, which I didnt root or anything) Root is easy and once you do that you can flash different ROM's/Kernel's to help improve your battery life. I enjoy flashing to new things and once android 2.2 comes out there will be bigger and better things in stored for us.

Now what I didnt realize when I first tried to root my phone was to download SDK manager? It took me the longest time to root, I followed every direction I found which a lot of them never stated to download SDK because they assumed we knew. If you really want to have fun and root your phone then here is what I suggest.

1. Search Google for "SDK Android" click the first link to download it. (may take up to 30+ mins to download everything)
2. Read the Wiki in the Epic Android Development Section. Learn what rooting does to your phone. It also explains how to root your device.

That's how I rooted my phone, now changing ROM's/Kernels is another thing but that too is VERY easy. If you need help I will be willing to help you, I too am and noob and speak NOOB language lol.
 

curving_edge

Member
Mar 3, 2010
8
0
When I first got my phone it took me awhile to learn the basics on how to root and what not, hence the fact it was my first android device (other then the evo, which I didnt root or anything) Root is easy and once you do that you can flash different ROM's/Kernel's to help improve your battery life. I enjoy flashing to new things and once android 2.2 comes out there will be bigger and better things in stored for us.

Now what I didnt realize when I first tried to root my phone was to download SDK manager? It took me the longest time to root, I followed every direction I found which a lot of them never stated to download SDK because they assumed we knew. If you really want to have fun and root your phone then here is what I suggest.

1. Search Google for "SDK Android" click the first link to download it. (may take up to 30+ mins to download everything)
2. Read the Wiki in the Epic Android Development Section. Learn what rooting does to your phone. It also explains how to root your device.

That's how I rooted my phone, now changing ROM's/Kernels is another thing but that too is VERY easy. If you need help I will be willing to help you, I too am and noob and speak NOOB language lol.

Hey sry... Thanks for the hand up on this situation. Should I wait till 2.2 or maybe try a root now? I might as well do it now and get familiar with it...

Pm me if you like, I will try the root this weekend. Thanks alot!:eek:
 

sauron0101

Senior Member
Aug 29, 2010
363
38
Ontario
If you care about battery life and want a smartphone, Blackberries are the way to go. Just don't expect anywhere near the features, customizability, or power of Android. Also, don't expect anywhere nearly as good hardware.

Everything is a compromise. I imagine though that you if hold out on the Epic, the Epic equal of this, an EVO extended battery will come out.