tmobile got the Note 2 this morning

[Infrnl]

Originally Posted by shortylickens

Like I said I been going almost two whole days, for a modern hi-end smartphone thats damn good.
Only my moms Blackberry does better.

I'm not sure how you're getting 2 days. I pretty much make it 1 day

[vi edit]

Dumb question....can you buy a T-Mobile Note 2 w/ plan, pay the ETF, and then take it over to Straight Talk and use an AT & T SIM?

Reason I ask is because I can buy a T-Mobile version from Best Buy with a new contract for $250 (25% off ebay deal) less a $250 Best Buy card I have. So the phone is basically free to me. Break the contract, pay the $200 ETF and then own it outright for $200. Pop in a ST AT & T sim and then go month to month for cheap. AT&T has much better coverage than T-Mobile in my area.

[WelshBloke]

Originally Posted by Nahtzee

What I dont understand about this is how exactly large the phone is. What do you use that screen size for? You need that large of a real-estate for basic media consumption? The stylus is nice, but you can get a stylus for any smartphone. How is it not awkward when holding it in your hand?

I demo'd it at a store and I couldn't hold it (maybe im small)

Styluses on other smartphones are pretty crappy. Doesnt the Note 2 have a decent digitizer?

Originally Posted by shortylickens

Like I said I been going almost two whole days, for a modern hi-end smartphone thats damn good.
Only my moms Blackberry does better.

Blackberries dont count as smartphones any more.

[golem]

Originally Posted by vi edit

Dumb question....can you buy a T-Mobile Note 2 w/ plan, pay the ETF, and then take it over to Straight Talk and use an AT & T SIM?

Reason I ask is because I can buy a T-Mobile version from Best Buy with a new contract for $250 (25% off ebay deal) less a $250 Best Buy card I have. So the phone is basically free to me. Break the contract, pay the $200 ETF and then own it outright for $200. Pop in a ST AT & T sim and then go month to month for cheap. AT&T has much better coverage than T-Mobile in my area.

I think you have to get at least one months service, since if you cancel before 14 days (some states are 30), you have to return the phone or get charged the full retail price.

Also, I think to use it on ATT network you also have to get the phone unlocked.

[vi edit]

Yeh, I'd have to pay for a months service and for $35 I can get it unlocked from a well recommended service over at XDA.

[maniac5999]

Originally Posted by vi edit

Yeh, I'd have to pay for a months service and for $35 I can get it unlocked from a well recommended service over at XDA.

Why bother? T-Mobile now lets you buy it outright on their website. I gave up on all the hassle of going that route, returned my original Note to the store and ordered online. It's supposed to arrive today

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/p...nnual-Contract

[vi edit]

Originally Posted by maniac5999

Why bother? T-Mobile now lets you buy it outright on their website. I gave up on all the hassle of going that route, returned my original Note to the store and ordered online. It's supposed to arrive today

Only reason is because I'm sitting on a pile of best buy gift cards that I'd like to use. I'd land a Note for about $300 out of pocket after 1 month use, activation, and unlock fees. That's better than $650 out of pocket.

[hrbngr2]

A couple of things I have read about the GNote 2 phones:

Only the Tmo version will have the 42mbps HSPA+ radio. The international one selling on Ebay only has HSPA, so it would be a maximum of 21mbps. This would be most important for peeps wanting to use the phone w/the $30/mo unlimited(5gb b4 throttling)web/text/100min calls plan. If you plan on using it on ATT, the international phone would be fine I suppose.

The digitizer for the stylus is a Wacom type unit... " Also, much like the tablet, the Note II is capable of recognizing up to 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity, a four-fold increase over the OG Note's 256 " <--from the engadget review.

Anyways, I am seriously considering buying the unit myself, but will try the LG Nexus 4 at $350 when it goes on sale next week (Nov 13th). I have read good and bad things about the Note 2s' OCR capabilities when using the stylus that I would like to verify before spending about $700 and then using it on a pre-paid plan.

One add'l prepaid option if using an unlocked Tmo Note 2 would be using the mvno Solavei. They have an unlimited (4gb b4 throttling) plan for $49.99 plus tax per month. They run on Tmo's network, but not sure if they support the WiFi calling options.

[shortylickens]

I love the big ass screen. I can actually see stuff on Imgur.

[Chiropteran]

Dammit, noticed a dead pixel on the screen of my Note 2.

Right in the lower middle portion of the screen, real obvious when using email or anything with a white background. I have 30 days to return it and will probably do just that due to the dead pixel, it's just in the worst location, I could overlook it if it was in a corner or along a side but not right in the middle of the screen.

/Sigh

[golem]

Originally Posted by Chiropteran

Dammit, noticed a dead pixel on the screen of my Note 2.

Right in the lower middle portion of the screen, real obvious when using email or anything with a white background. I have 30 days to return it and will probably do just that due to the dead pixel, it's just in the worst location, I could overlook it if it was in a corner or along a side but not right in the middle of the screen.

/Sigh

How do you like the phone otherwise?

[Chiropteran]

Originally Posted by golem

How do you like the phone otherwise?

It's pretty nice. I hate bloatware and it has a few annoying pre-loaded apps, but there is an Android feature that can hide apps so I've just hidden all the unwanted apps.

Speed is incredible, and the screen is beautiful. I find it easier to use chrome on the Note 2 compared to my Galaxy Nexus because of everything being a little bigger. While it is huge for a phone, it's still perfectly usable as a phone, and it fits fine in my pocket.

The dual-app feature is not yet enabled for the t-mobile branded phones, so I can't comment on it, but it sounds like a cool feature. Even without that feature, it's the best phone I've used so far, disregarding the dead pixel.

IMO, it could only be more perfect if there was a nexus version of it with fully stock android. I am a bit of an addicted at having the latest fully updated OS. My opinion might change in 6 month if the Note 2 OS lags far behind the latest versions of Android.


I'm thinking now I will return this phone and buy another from a local t-mobile store, so if I have further issues I don't have to ship to return it.

[golem]

Originally Posted by Chiropteran

It's pretty nice. I hate bloatware and it has a few annoying pre-loaded apps, but there is an Android feature that can hide apps so I've just hidden all the unwanted apps.

Speed is incredible, and the screen is beautiful. I find it easier to use chrome on the Note 2 compared to my Galaxy Nexus because of everything being a little bigger. While it is huge for a phone, it's still perfectly usable as a phone, and it fits fine in my pocket.

The dual-app feature is not yet enabled for the t-mobile branded phones, so I can't comment on it, but it sounds like a cool feature. Even without that feature, it's the best phone I've used so far, disregarding the dead pixel.

IMO, it could only be more perfect if there was a nexus version of it with fully stock android. I am a bit of an addicted at having the latest fully updated OS. My opinion might change in 6 month if the Note 2 OS lags far behind the latest versions of Android.


I'm thinking now I will return this phone and buy another from a local t-mobile store, so if I have further issues I don't have to ship to return it.

Thanks for the quick mini review!

[Chiropteran]

I got a new Note 2, since I really couldn't stand the dead pixel in the first one I had. Went with one of the many unlocked international version Note 2 sold on amazon.

Compared to the T-Mobile branded device, this has a few advantages:

-No t-mobile junkware apps.

-Slightly cheaper, $630 instead of $650.

-Already updated with the two apps on one screen feature, which t-mobile didn't get yet. Very fun to play around with, and I think it might even be a useful feature in real world use.

-No dead pixels, yay.

And a few cons, which are minor to me:

-Using the new band, which T-Mobile hasn't fully switched over to. If I am in an area that gets the HSPA+ speeds, data speeds are incredible. If not, it drops down to edge which is abyssmal. I can live with this because so far in my testing it seems the area around here has been largely refarmed already, and it will just get better in time.

-No LTE support. This doesn't bother me too much because T-Mobile's LTE won't be launched until probably late 2013 and good coverage is even further away, so I don't really care about LTE.

Also,



With speeds like this, I don't need LTE.

[shortylickens]

Cancelled yesterday, 200 dollar ETF.

Final cost of phone: 400 dollars.

30 dollars per month times 24: 720.

Yeah, I saved a FUCKLOAD of cash.