My NZ experiences with the Google N1 Phone

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560 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#313195 30-Mar-2010 22:14

Just a note after having used the Zagg screen protector for a week or two (in case anyone is still interested):

I'm not entirely impressed. Granted, it was my first attempt at installing, but I don't think I did a particulatly bad job. I found that the protector did affect screen responsiveness slightly - most noticeable was on the "Back" button at the bottom, which is a little hard to activate at times even with no protector. I often have to hit it 3-4 times now, or push a little harder and a little longer.

As for durability - it's NOT very durable while putting it on!! I managed to scratch it AND get a permanent fingerprint gouge and I thought I was being very careful. It was hard to install but probably gets better with practise.

I don't like the texture, it's not perfectly flat, and while I wouldn't mind the texture on the back of my phone (great for extra grip), I don't think it works well on the screen. Others describe it as an "orange-peel texture" and I think that sums it up. Also, when pushing hard (as I have to sometimes), my finger sticks to the screen and when trying to drag it moves suddenly due to the tacky (as in sticky, not cheap) feel of the material. Finally, my last gripe is that right around the edge there is a line of lint that it has picked up from my pockets. Not good.

Summing it up: good protection at the cost of usability.

Next step: After reading up some more I've just ordered some Phantom Skinz (promo code spring25 works at the moment for 25% discount, it's already cheaper than Zagg plus it appears that you get two for the price of one on all phone-protector orders). I'll update you when it arrives.

Edit: typos :(

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helicrew

77 posts

Master Geek

#313410 31-Mar-2010 11:05

My Skinomi is great, no orange peel, and despite me treating it not very kindly when putting it on, no tears or marks.

I did a shocker of a job getting it on and some of the larger bubbles took up to 5 days to disappear, but they have and now its a great screen cover.

walt12

324 posts

Ultimate Geek

#313886 1-Apr-2010 14:07

Is anyone using the Nexus One with a Bluetooth headset? If so was this sourced locally, and which brand?

Have read a bit of press suggesting some problems when using a headset with noise cancelling.

Anyone?

helicrew

77 posts

Master Geek

#313903 1-Apr-2010 14:41

Blue Ant Z9i from DSE, no problems at all.

walt12

324 posts

Ultimate Geek

#313932 1-Apr-2010 15:31

Thanks.

I should also mention, for those looking for Nexus accessories, the store at Androidcentral will ship to NZ. Docks, spare batteries etc ...

lchiu7

6185 posts

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#313987 1-Apr-2010 18:50

walt12: Is anyone using the Nexus One with a Bluetooth headset? If so was this sourced locally, and which brand?

Have read a bit of press suggesting some problems when using a headset with noise cancelling.

Anyone?

No problem with a number of bluetooth headsets but alas no voice dialing. Not sure if this an android problem or specifically a nexus one issue. But it's quite annoying anyway.

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Linuxluver

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#314514 3-Apr-2010 23:34

My first Nexus One arrives in a few days so hopefully I'll have something to contribute to this thread.

I've bought two because it looked like the first purchase fell through and I ordered another from another source...then the first purchase worked out as well.

Each will come with a second battery included. These smartphones are power-hungry and I hate rationing use of all the great features because I have only one battery.

I may sell one of the N1s. Haven't made my mind up yet. Almost certainly selling my other two phones (HTC Magic and Acer Liquid). No use for four.

I use two different BT Headsets, so I'll report how they go. One is a Nokia BH-209 and the other is a Sony stereo / phone headset (DR-BT21G)

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jjnz1

1326 posts

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#315594 7-Apr-2010 00:11

Yesterday I flashed my Nexus One with Cyangen's Mod. It took about 30minutes and took 2 goes at it, but it is all running better than fine.

I dont really notice much difference apart from little things like the trackball now flashes all colours, and the wifi re-connection issue i was having seems to no longer be there.

The speed of the device was very fast and is still very fast although the phone now boots up alot quicker.

The google wifi tether app is awesome, -i missed it from when i owned my N97 with Joikuspot.

Works perfectly with all my bluetooth products, Parrot 6000, JVC car headunit, Nokia stereo headphones BH503.

Battery life, took it off charge this morning 7am, now its at 46% (at midnight) with moderate to fair usage.

Compared to my other dozen or so phones i have owned like the N97, this thing is a saint.

9.0 Stars out of 10.

pih

560 posts

Ultimate Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#315633 7-Apr-2010 08:15

Awesome, thanks for that - I've been debating whether or not to flash with Cyanogen's mod. I too had a wifi connection issue - I think there are a couple of issues surrounding wifi related to using the "Never disconnect" sleep policy with either channel 13, hidden SSIDs or WPA2 (or a combination of the three). I finally got my last problem sorted out the other day.

Another note on speed: while I like the live wallpaper eye candy, I've switched mine to a static image background and find that the apps menu is no longer as laggy. The live wallpapers sleep while apps are open, but they keep redrawing while in the apps menu which slows things down.

@jjnz1: Back to CyanogenMod - what would make it 10/10 for you?

lchiu7

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#315673 7-Apr-2010 09:59

It's also crossed my mind but not seriously. But then I have still have a pinkish tinge issue on my camera even after the OTA update so I contacted HTC to ask about it. Before they would entertain a RMA they said I should do a hard reset. While I know all my settings are backed up in Google servers, all apps I downloaded are still either on my SD card or known to the Market (including the paid ones) and I have backed up SMS with Wavesecure, I am still loathe to do a hard reset.

Perhaps if I do that I might as well flash a new ROM at the same time. Probably the biggest feature of a rooted phone (apart possibly from fixing some touch screen issues) is the ability to tether the phone without purchasing something like PDANET.

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Linuxluver

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#315680 7-Apr-2010 10:26

lchiu7: It's also crossed my mind but not seriously. But then I have still have a pinkish tinge issue on my camera even after the OTA update so I contacted HTC to ask about it. Before they would entertain a RMA they said I should do a hard reset. While I know all my settings are backed up in Google servers, all apps I downloaded are still either on my SD card or known to the Market (including the paid ones) and I have backed up SMS with Wavesecure, I am still loathe to do a hard reset.

Perhaps if I do that I might as well flash a new ROM at the same time. Probably the biggest feature of a rooted phone (apart possibly from fixing some touch screen issues) is the ability to tether the phone without purchasing something like PDANET.

The only reason I'm hesitating to flash a rooted ROM onto my brand new Nexus One is the warranty. As I understand it - unless things have changed - part of rooting the phone is acknowledging you are voiding your warranty. That would be OK usually as the hardware is pretty good. But I've seen reports of dead pixels appearing on the Nexus One within a few days or weeks...and if you void the warranty you've got no come back......

I know it's a hassle to assert any warranty given the tortuous path by which the phone was obtained....but rooting it removes any claim to a new phone if some hardware proves to be flakey.

I may get over this feeling as a I gain confidence in the device. But for now, I can see myself waiting a month of two before unleashing all manner of custom ROM-ery on my still-smells-new Nexus One. :-)

Maybe in a month or so it may be enough to just root it...at first.....as the version on here now is plenty fast and everything works 100%. But then I can see me needing Apps2SD as the phone appears to only have limited internal storage (256MB?)....and Google Earth takes 27MB of that.

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pih

560 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#315755 7-Apr-2010 13:44

Linuxluver:
The only reason I'm hesitating to flash a rooted ROM onto my brand new Nexus One is the warranty. As I understand it - unless things have changed - part of rooting the phone is acknowledging you are voiding your warranty. That would be OK usually as the hardware is pretty good. But I've seen reports of dead pixels appearing on the Nexus One within a few days or weeks...and if you void the warranty you've got no come back.

Agreed - the dead pixel issue is very real, at least one of the phones I imported had a dead subpixel, and my brother's one in the US developed a stuck pixel after about a month of use. He had already rooted his phone by that time (bummer), and he's a self-confessed "display snob" so it really irritated him.

I've had mine for well over 2 months now, so I'm about ready to give it a try - wifi tethering and the claimed speed increases are the biggest factor for me.

A little OT I know, but while I'm on N1 displays I thought I'd put in a plug for the featured Ars article my brother published recently (in case anyone missed it). Interesting stuff - download the zip from his blog and check out the images in the gallery app.

Linuxluver

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#316033 8-Apr-2010 08:30

pih:

Agreed - the dead pixel issue is very real, at least one of the phones I imported had a dead subpixel, and my brother's one in the US developed a stuck pixel after about a month of use. He had already rooted his phone by that time (bummer), and he's a self-confessed "display snob" so it really irritated him.

Your experience is one that I had in mind, Paul. Further, that a small sample like your own own family brought up two examples was also reasons for caution. BUT! I bought the phone anyway on the basis a pixel or two is no big deal even if it does happen. I have a DSE flat screen PC monitor at home that developed a dead pixel after a few months...and that was several years ago and I barely notice it.

pih:I've had mine for well over 2 months now, so I'm about ready to give it a try - wifi tethering and the claimed speed increases are the biggest factor for me.

I worked out how to fastboot it and I ran the "oem unlock" instruction with fastboot to see what it looked like. So if/when I decide to root it, I'm all set to go. ;-) But the other reason for delaying is I want to thoroughly understand the stock system before replacing it. Otherwise I have no basis for comparison. The two things that I do want are screenshots and wifi tethering as an access point. Not just one PC, but several. I can do that with my HTC Magic. I can get screenshots using ddms and a USB cable...so that has a work-around. I can get wifi tethering with PDANet....but what isn't clear with PDANet is whether it's a single-PC solution or a defacto AP solution. I want the latter. I may also want Apps2SD as I seem to be chewing up the internal app storage fairly quickly...and I haven't installed any themes yet! I have about 50 of them.

pih: A little OT I know, but while I'm on N1 displays I thought I'd put in a plug for the featured Ars article my brother published recently (in case anyone missed it). Interesting stuff - download the zip from his blog and check out the images in the gallery app.

I read that when it came out as Ars Technica is on my "FeedR" feed list. Bought the phone anyway. :-)

Having had it for over 24 hours now, I *really* like my Nexus One. Seriously like it. It's absolutely awesome.

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lchiu7

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#316202 8-Apr-2010 13:14

pih: Just a note after having used the Zagg screen protector for a week or two (in case anyone is still interested):..

I guess my experiences can't compare. I got given the screen cover by Zagg. It wasn't designed for the N1 - the N1 had just come out so it was a generic screen cover. I just cut it to size and it fitted easily.

It doesn't cover the buttons at the bottom - I didn't see a need for that. And it has a smooth texture, not the "orange peel" texture as described.

I am happy with it but I wouldn't buy the entire protector kit - I just use a Silicon type shell covering for the back which works well.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/rooms/32019730 Mention GZ to get a 10% discount

pih

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Ultimate Geek

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#318331 14-Apr-2010 12:21

Hi all, has anyone had issues trying to NOT connect to 3G/GPRS or wifi while maintaining a cellular connection? At times when I'm away from home and don't want to use up any data I'd like to be able to switch off all data, but for the life of me I CAN'T! APNDroid doesn't work, I've tried messing with the APN settings - in fact I can change EVERYTHING on the APN screen to bogus values (including proxy) and it will still get an active 3G connection. Is this a Vodafone thing? I can force it to GPRS, but I can't seem to shut it off altogether unless I go into airplane mode - but I want the phone to stay active. Ideas?

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