Evil is Purged!

[tiggymalvern]

I've been watching the Android and Windows phone markets for about a year now, looking for the best opportunity to replace the iPhone. And it came, finally, the Perfect Storm of features, and I now have a Samsung Galaxy S3. It's fast, it's glorious, it has a beautifully smooth swipey interface. The screen doesn't keep going inactive when I don't want it to. The screen is much bigger, while the phone is barely bigger at all. I don't have to install shitty software that I don't want in an inseperable bundle with the useful part, in order to use it. (Good riddance, Quick Time! Never will you contaminate my PC again!)

Hello, beautifully custom fitted case that makes the phone no longer, no wider, and only marginally thicker. The case replaces the back of the phone, so as not to add bulk. (Hey, Apple, are you sure that a proprietary case was too much trouble for you?)

Hello, SD memory slot - now my phone can grow with the tech of the times, yay!

The voice recognition feature understands an English accent!

There are enough buttons to make it useful, instead of the 'There Shall Be Only One' ethos that infests Apple. I love the fact that the 'back' and 'menu' buttons are there, but invisible until you want them. Pretty!

I'm still investigating features, but the Out Of Box experience was very shiny.

Comments

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

It sounds very cool - I hope you'll show it off the next time I see you!

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

I need to see you! It's been too long. I'm thinking we need to arrange a Dark Knight expedition...

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

YES. And I'm more excited about seeing you than Batman, to be honest.

[solo.livejournal.com]

YAY! YAY freedom from Apple's tie-ins and limitations and all that crap. A. has an iPhone and I don't know how he puts up with it, I think it's just because he won't think about it.

And I'm really glad that the S3 is so shiny because I'm about to need a new contract and was thinking about what phone to get... I have a Galaxy SI900 (or something like that, don't ask me about those little numbers, I'm bad with numbers) and I was ogling the S3 but actually thought it might be a bit... big? I got the Galaxy way back when because of the big screen because I wanted to watch lots of videos on it but then my fandom kind of imploded.

But everything you say sounds excellent. So I guess... hello shiny here, I come... *__*

PS: did the case come with the phone?
PPS: oh, and if you want recs for apps, talk to me. and sorry about all the edits.

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

I hate Apple, I always have, but when I bought the iPhone, it really was the only practical choice; Android just hadn't caught up.

I wondered if the S3 might be a bit big too, but it isn't :-)

The case didn't come with the phone, sadly, it is a separate purchase.

I've never stuck a whole lot of apps on my phones - mainly just Shazam, Pandora, a couple of games for when I'm sitting around waiting, and the odd potentially useful thing like Flashlight. Oh, and a night sky app too, those are cool. Do you use a lot?

[solo.livejournal.com]

Hm, let me see.

I have lots but not all that many see regular use, some are just for particular purposes. The ones I'd recommend most:

Lookout for security/antivirus.

Business Calendar Free - very nice calendar application, integrates & syncs with pretty much everything.

The gmail app.
K9 for pop mail, very functional.
Twicca for twitter - my favourite twitter client.
Whatsapp for free sms to anyone who also has whatsapp, anywhere.

PlayerPro for music - excellent app!
Moboplayer for video.

And, uh, Apps Organizer for, uh, organising apps by tagging them. That's because I have so many single-use ones which I like to keep sorted.

And a couple of things I paid for:

FX Camera Zoom - really improved my integrated camera, but idk, the S3 one may not be in need of that.
Swiftkey - keyboard app. (I love it!)

Well, and then lots of little things, games, file manager, reference stuff, travel, navigation, battery saving thingies, wifi finder etc, just depends on what you're looking for.

Where did you get the case, is it an official one or one you can just pick up at the mall/on Amazon?

ETA: ignore that last question, saw the answer downthread.

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

I downloaded Lookout, thanks.

The internets seems equally divided between Power Amp and Player Pro for music. I may need to try the trials of both, before committing.

The S3 camera has a digital zoom feature built in, but I haven't played with it enough to know if it's any good.

Thanks for the tips!

[jo-lasalle.livejournal.com]

I thought you already had a new phone... it's really weird, I was SURE you got a new one not to long ago. But maybe I'm st00pid.

/and sorry for the edit too

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

Nope, you must have me confused - my ex-phone was over 4 years old. I'm not that much of a techno-updater!

[jo-lasalle.livejournal.com]

I did have you confused!! I meant to reply to Solo, whose tech I usually have a good overview on. *g* Sorry for being all over your comments. Must have clicked the wrong link, argh. >_>

[solo.livejournal.com]

I don't have a new phone either. :) You got my old phone when I got the new phone. That was two years ago. Oh how time flies... :p

[tameiki.livejournal.com]

The SD memory slot alone tempts me beyond reason. That would make putting music on so much easier. I hate that you have to go through iTunes to get everything on the iPhone and refuse to put it on my PC. That kind of limits the phone in too many ways I don't like :(

You'll have to give an update once you finish exploring all the shiny, new features on your new toy. When you get a chance I'm rather interested in seeing what the new case looks like. As Solo asked, the case is an "accessory", right? How hard was it to replace the original case it came with? Inquiring minds wanna know :)

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

Yeah, all that software you have to install for Apple bugged me too. Android phones are only too happy to talk to a PC :-)

The case was an extra purchase, yes. I got the woman in the shop to put it on for me - she already had the back off the phone to put the SD card in, so having her pop the case on instead when she was done only made sense.

[jo-lasalle.livejournal.com]

Sounds like a very pleasant addition to the family. *g* Congratulations!

(omg quicktime... if it would just GO AWAY...)

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

Quicktime is just the worst piece of media software ever inflicted on a computer. The only way Apple can get people to download it is to forcibly bundle it with iTunes, so they don't have to face figures telling them how unwanted it is.

[jo-lasalle.livejournal.com]

I don't use iTunes so at least I don't have it on my home computer ANYMORE but my office computer just... won't let go of it, and then the updates drive me batty.

[rzyna.livejournal.com]

I'm really glad you like it so much! Sounds like we got the same case, which I've been very pleased with as well. It's been nearly a week now and I'm still discovering new features on mine and the more I find, the more I like. Enjoy!

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

I do like it! Which is good, since I'd been planning to buy it for about 2 months XD I was taken aback for a moment by the cost of the case, given that it's plastic, not platinum, but I swallowed it to protect the big shiny screen.

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

I have an LG, and I just love it. People looked at me funny for not wanting an iPhone but fuck it.

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

Most Apple tech is over-priced, and over-designed for looks rather than function. It seems to work for Apple, since they're doing well, but it definitely doesn't work for me!

[lady-ganesh.livejournal.com]

I still love my iPod, but the thing I really liked about it was how simple and easy and basic it is to use, it basically does one thing really well. The iPhone...not so much.