Huawei G300 (U8815) on special for $239

Forums › Android › Huawei G300 (U8815) on special for $239

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1508 posts

Uber Geek

#683309 9-Sep-2012 09:34

Cheers for pointing out this special. Just bought my wife one yesterday. Very nice phone. Ran it through the ICS update last night and everything is smooth and fast. Only annoyance with ICS update is that video went from 720*480 to 640*480 maximum. Very good phone for the money.

Try Vultr using this link and get us both some credit:

http://www.vultr.com/?ref=7033587-3B

urban

487 posts

Ultimate Geek

#683313 9-Sep-2012 09:42

Fred99: As for my problem "losing" contacts etc - as they say "my dumb".
You are prompted to backup before installing the update.
They don't tell you that a Huawei app "All Backup" is installed as part of the upgrade. I looked - expecting to find something like this, but didn't see it until now. Open this, and you can restore all your contacts, messages, call logs, etc etc. It works - no problem, so forget my previous suggestions that this was a problem - it was my own self-created problem only.

Ah cheers for that... I knew the phone had backed up the settings and whatnot prior to installation, but couldn't figure out why it hadn't restored anything!

CutCutCut

1039 posts

Uber Geek

#683695 10-Sep-2012 09:11

Fred99: The GPS is superb - it acquires a fix very quickly, and unlike other phones, if you leave GPS on but no app is using it, it must shut down to a standby mode as it seems to have no impact on battery life, then when you fire up a GPS app, it is ready to go in seconds. The Sygic app I use (about $40) uses tomtom maps, and works brilliantly, smooth, fast, much better than a new Navman I used alongside it to trial the Sygic app before I paid $$. Battery life for the phone is excellent.
There are some reviews referring to low ring/notification volume - I think this was fixed in a firmware upgrade a few months ago - hasn't been an issue I've noticed.

Do you have wifi/data turned on when using the GPS? I find the GPS takes a while to get a lock, sometimes not at all. IF iturn the wifi on, it gets a lock really quick. Maybe sygic works better with the GPS?
I thought the ringer volume was a little low, I didn't notice too much of a difference after the firware upgrade, but I'd only had the phone a day or 2. I hear on overseas forums though that the ICS update has the low volume problem returning, at least for some. Not too much of an issue for me, but I would prefer more volume for videos/youtube etc.

The thing that caught me after ICS update was that the external sdcard path changed. It defaulted to the internal storage whcih changed the path, and thus some of the apps couldn't find their data. Fixed, mostly, by chagning the staroage default to external sd.

Fred99

13684 posts

Uber Geek

#683720 10-Sep-2012 10:38

CutCutCut:

Do you have wifi/data turned on when using the GPS? I find the GPS takes a while to get a lock, sometimes not at all. IF iturn the wifi on, it gets a lock really quick. Maybe sygic works better with the GPS?
I thought the ringer volume was a little low, I didn't notice too much of a difference after the firware upgrade, but I'd only had the phone a day or 2. I hear on overseas forums though that the ICS update has the low volume problem returning, at least for some. Not too much of an issue for me, but I would prefer more volume for videos/youtube etc.

I usually have wifi on (but almost never mobile data). I just turned wifi off, walked outside with it a few minutes ago, it took Sygic 10 seconds to acquire a (new) fix - which I think is very fast indeed. Shut down, turned GPS off for a few minutes and restarted, and it re-acquired position in about (less than) 2 seconds of Sygic loading. Most times using it in a car, it's effectively instant. Before I decided to buy Sygic, I tried the 7 day trial version on the G300 alongside a new Navman car GPS (I don't know model number, but it cost my friend about $350), as we were driving around Chch doing a few jobs all over town. The G300 (if set on dashboard) acquired a (new) fix much faster than the car GPS. To rub salt into the wound, the Sygic app scrolled more smoothly, calculated route much faster, and less "laggy" inputting addresses etc. The Navman has a larger screen (about 5"?), but lower resolution, the phone with Sygic running was actually better all round in my opinion if you can put up with 4" display - and one other potential "gotcha" - the screen polariser orientation is such that if it's sitting on the car bracket in "landscape" orientation and you're wearing polarising sunglasses - you can't see the screen. All dedicated car GPS seem to have the LCD panel orientated the other way around. The G300 will also easily find and hold a position if sitting on the passenger seat in my cars. My Lowrance marine GPS (it's a few years old) doesn't even come close to being able to do that. Even sitting indoors under an iron roof using "GPS Essentials" app, it's "seeing" 10 satellites and acquiring a fix quite quickly.

So I'm surprised by your comments, I don't find the GPS in the G300 "adequate", but remarkable.

CutCutCut

1039 posts

Uber Geek

#683789 10-Sep-2012 12:38

Fred99:
CutCutCut:

Do you have wifi/data turned on when using the GPS? I find the GPS takes a while to get a lock, sometimes not at all. IF iturn the wifi on, it gets a lock really quick. Maybe sygic works better with the GPS?
I thought the ringer volume was a little low, I didn't notice too much of a difference after the firware upgrade, but I'd only had the phone a day or 2. I hear on overseas forums though that the ICS update has the low volume problem returning, at least for some. Not too much of an issue for me, but I would prefer more volume for videos/youtube etc.

I usually have wifi on (but almost never mobile data). I just turned wifi off, walked outside with it a few minutes ago, it took Sygic 10 seconds to acquire a (new) fix - which I think is very fast indeed. Shut down, turned GPS off for a few minutes and restarted, and it re-acquired position in about (less than) 2 seconds of Sygic loading. Most times using it in a car, it's effectively instant. Before I decided to buy Sygic, I tried the 7 day trial version on the G300 alongside a new Navman car GPS (I don't know model number, but it cost my friend about $350), as we were driving around Chch doing a few jobs all over town. The G300 (if set on dashboard) acquired a (new) fix much faster than the car GPS. To rub salt into the wound, the Sygic app scrolled more smoothly, calculated route much faster, and less "laggy" inputting addresses etc. The Navman has a larger screen (about 5"?), but lower resolution, the phone with Sygic running was actually better all round in my opinion if you can put up with 4" display - and one other potential "gotcha" - the screen polariser orientation is such that if it's sitting on the car bracket in "landscape" orientation and you're wearing polarising sunglasses - you can't see the screen. All dedicated car GPS seem to have the LCD panel orientated the other way around. The G300 will also easily find and hold a position if sitting on the passenger seat in my cars. My Lowrance marine GPS (it's a few years old) doesn't even come close to being able to do that. Even sitting indoors under an iron roof using "GPS Essentials" app, it's "seeing" 10 satellites and acquiring a fix quite quickly.

So I'm surprised by your comments, I don't find the GPS in the G300 "adequate", but remarkable.

Wow, I'll have to have a bit more of a play with it. I'm guessing it's not related to google maps or any software issues. It could be that I'm in a funny GPS spot at home, where I've mainly tried it.
Have you got yourself a mount? I'm looking at getting one of the fan mount ones off ebay.

Fred99

13684 posts

Uber Geek

#683801 10-Sep-2012 12:56

CutCutCut:

Wow, I'll have to have a bit more of a play with it. I'm guessing it's not related to google maps or any software issues. It could be that I'm in a funny GPS spot at home, where I've mainly tried it.
Have you got yourself a mount? I'm looking at getting one of the fan mount ones off ebay.

I suppose that if there's anything causing EMF then it could upset the GPS. GPS satellite signals are weak, the GPS unit has to be sensitive, selective, and there's a lot of number-crunching needed - which is why older GPS units really chewed through batteries, but newer units with efficient processors are much better.
I got an iPod windscreen suction cup bracket at Supecheap Auto for $15, the G300 fits in one of the iPhone adapters quite well.

robjg63

4096 posts

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#683824 10-Sep-2012 13:24

I dont have this phone - but I think that you will find variation on GPS lock speeds for several reasons...

Phones Its usually referred to as A-GPS - (Assisted), ideally it will try and glean info from the nearest cellphone tower to try and speed up the GPS lock. This can use a couple of bytes of information (should on cost a cent or so) - but can dramatically speed up the GPS fixing.

Somehow - they also keep some caching information for a little while.

On my phone - a Galaxy Ace - its pretty slow to lock. I usually have the mobile data turned off though. I also find buildings etc can block it - or slow down location fixing as well. Anyway - when it finally manages to get a fix you usually find the subsequent attempts (even after the GPS has been tunred off/on) are quite quick - but if you power the phone off again it can be very slow again the first time.

I did download something called fasterfix (see google play store) - needs a rooted phone though. It sets some of the NTP (time server settings) for this part of the world - that made my phone faster.

There is also an app called GPS status that is quite interesting - dont think it requires rooting - it shows whats going on with the GPS - you can see it locating satellite locks and working out the North/South bearings - also shows how old the AGPS cache is..

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Fred99

13684 posts

Uber Geek

#684150 10-Sep-2012 22:12

GPS Essentials (free app) will show you what's going on, with both aGPS (cellphone tower) and wifi (probably using google's infamous wifi point database). It also shows you satellite positions etc etc.
If I turn wifi off, and put the phone in Airplane mode, so disconnected from the phone network, then there's no "a" GPS, the G300 is using GPS satellites only - and it still gets a fix very very quickly.

CutCutCut

1039 posts

Uber Geek

#686188 14-Sep-2012 21:47

Anybody else got the annoying spellcheck issue after ICS update? Nearly everyword gets highlighted red. Looks like there is a fix you can do at modaco.com.
Do you think huawei/vodafone will patch this?

Stu

Hammered
8332 posts

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#686332 15-Sep-2012 09:18

Turn off "spelling correction" under Language and Input in the system settings.

People often mistake me for an adult because of my age.

Keep calm, and carry on posting.

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CutCutCut

1039 posts

Uber Geek

#688531 20-Sep-2012 08:00

BigHammer: Turn off "spelling correction" under Language and Input in the system settings.

Yup that fixed it, but of course now there is no spelling correction, hopefully they fix it soon, kind of annoying.

Stu

Hammered
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#688547 20-Sep-2012 08:38

Change your keyboard to one that has a built in spell checker/dictionary. Install something like SwiftKey.

People often mistake me for an adult because of my age.

Keep calm, and carry on posting.

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CutCutCut

1039 posts

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#688548 20-Sep-2012 08:41

BigHammer: Change your keyboard to one that has a built in spell checker/dictionary. Install something like SwiftKey.

Thanks, that might be worth a try.

Stu

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#692864 28-Sep-2012 12:37

After a bit of difficult negotiation (with the better half), I've just picked up another G300 at $239 to replace my old HTC Desire that the wife has been using. Been having a bit of grief with buttons not responding when pressed. (And no, I don't just mean the phone!)

People often mistake me for an adult because of my age.

Keep calm, and carry on posting.

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urban

487 posts

Ultimate Geek

#693404 29-Sep-2012 15:58

BigHammer: After a bit of difficult negotiation (with the better half), I've just picked up another G300 at $239 to replace my old HTC Desire that the wife has been using. Been having a bit of grief with buttons not responding when pressed. (And no, I don't just mean the phone!)

Hmm I'm having no issues with mine. Has it been updated to ICS 4.0.3?

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