[Noisebridge-discuss] Seeking advice -- new Android phone with good physical attributes?

[John Magolske]

* Lee Sonko <lee at lee.org> [120728 09:43]:
> On Fri, Jul 20, 2012 at 8:58 AM, John Magolske <listmail at b79.net> wrote:
> 
> > It looks like my G1 is finally on it's last legs, so I'm wondering if
> > anyone here could give me some pointers on selecting a new(er) Android
> > phone. I'm on the T-Mobile network & have a contract-renewal upgrade
> > credit towards the purchase of a new phone. My criteria:
> >
> > * Notification light -- Must have a real physical notification LED.
> 
> Are you sure it needs a real notification LED? I use the NoLED Android app
> which turns on the screen and plays a tune when there's a message waiting
> for me. It works great and (surprisingly) doesn't drain the battery
> significantly.

Not sure, but I'm guessing the NoLED app doesn't blink the screen
once per second (or whatever the frequency of a real LED). I like
being able to pull a phone out of my bag and immediately tell at a
glance -- without pushing any buttons -- if there are outstanding
notifications. Or, if the phone's sitting across the room, to be able
to glance over at it every now & then to see if a message has come
in. Additionally, a real LED is discrete, allowing one for example to
receive notifications in a dark theater without disturbing others.

It's a shame that this hardware feature is becoming increasingly rare.
On a recent visit to a T-Mobile store I gathered that the only Android
phones with notification LEDs they offer are the Samsung Galaxy S3,
the Sidekick, and the myTouch 4G Slide (HTC).

The Galaxy S3 is their most expensive offering at $330 *with* the
contract discount. But I don't particularly care for it...too big.
If forgoing the physical keyboard, I might consider the Nexus
(supported by (I think) but not sold by T-Mobile) instead at $350.

I actually rather like the ergonomics of the Sidekick, but apparently
it comes with a really buggy (crashing, freezing) Android build
that never quite got fixed...which might have something to do with
why T-Mobile is discontinuing it. Too bad there's not a cyanogenmod
option for that phone.

The MyTouch 4G Slide's notification LED shuts off & stops blinking
after some unspecified period of time...which sort of defeats the
purpose. This is to save battery life I suppose, but it would be nice
if this were a configurable option. Wondering if cyanogenmod on this
phone would rectify the issue...

Anyhow, I still think the G1/G2 has a superior keyboard, but I guess a
myTouch will do if that's the only option. Would anyone perchance have
a low-mileage G2 they'd be willing to sell?

John

-- 
John Magolske
http://B79.net/contact