The new Orange Android phone (San Francisco) £99...but a Question??

sanaxe1 · 6 Dec 2010 at 22:26

asim18 said:
o_O what a biased comparison lol. Especially the way you used double breaks for the cons.

its not biased at all, i compared it to the phone i came from... I made the negatives double breaks as they are longer in length and it makes it easier to read. I don't care who makes my phone as long as it performs the task i want.

MOOGLEYS · 6 Dec 2010 at 22:27

I have spent the evening trying different Roms on the phone inc 2.1 & 2.2 and strangely i get the best overall performance with the original orange Rom on the phone..??

I have no idea why..

[SKR]Phoenix · 6 Dec 2010 at 23:16

MOOGLEYS said:
I have spent the evening trying different Roms on the phone inc 2.1 & 2.2 and strangely i get the best overall performance with the original orange Rom on the phone..??

I have no idea why..

You did perform a few reboots with each rom didn't you? First couple boots can be slow due to android setting stuff up in the background. Normally the first boot will be worst.

JIM_BOB7813 · 7 Dec 2010 at 00:12

Even comparing it to an old iphone, you have to take into account the price. Second hand iphone 2g seem to be ~£130 on ebay (£100-£160).
This is brand new, with a warranty, and you can possibly get £12 quidco or a £20-30 discount if you are an existing orange customer.

It's not perfect, but it's cheap and great value for the money.
I've found opera mini to be the best browser, the stock one and Dolphin HD are sluggish.

sanaxe1 · 7 Dec 2010 at 00:21

JIM_BOB7813 said:
Even comparing it to an old iphone, you have to take into account the price. Second hand iphone 2g seem to be ~£130 on ebay (£100-£160).
This is brand new, with a warranty, and you can possibly get £12 quidco or a £20-30 discount if you are an existing orange customer.

It's not perfect, but it's cheap and great value for the money.
I've found opera mini to be the best browser, the stock one and Dolphin HD are sluggish.

I did take into account the Price hence it got a B and not a F grade.

Bradmax57 · 7 Dec 2010 at 00:44

sanaxe1 said:
I did take into account the Price hence it got a B and not a F grade.

Then what would your iphone 2 have got, a F?

Monty HD · 7 Dec 2010 at 10:13

MOOGLEYS said:
I have spent the evening trying different Roms on the phone inc 2.1 & 2.2 and strangely i get the best overall performance with the original orange Rom on the phone..??

I have no idea why..

I have to admit I was finindg it just as slow as when it was on the Orange android at first. I have just shut it down and turned it on a couple of times and I have to say it is running much better, actually!

Also, what is so great about Launcher Pro? I ahve installed it and apart from giving me a really snazzy wallpaper, it just gives me an extra otion when I press the home key to go back via launch pro but doesn't have most of the icons/widgets.

What's it for?

MOOGLEYS · 7 Dec 2010 at 10:20

[SKR]Phoenix;17946875 said:
You did perform a few reboots with each rom didn't you? First couple boots can be slow due to android setting stuff up in the background. Normally the first boot will be worst.

Tbh i dont think i did.. Will have another play this evening and see how it goes......

Cheers

Kazz · 7 Dec 2010 at 12:21

Finally got my refund through, only took a month and a half, meh.

Phoned my local Orange store and yes, they only have the newer TFT ones in stock now. Is it worth me looking around for a OLED one instead? Getting a £20 discount at the store as well. Meh, decisions.

randal · 7 Dec 2010 at 12:24

Real bummer they've switched to TFT, probably was the plan all along anyway. Get people interested in the OLED then switch to save production costs. Everyone saves money, except the customer.

On a different note, got an Alpha 4 build of Paul's 2.2 release ready to go on tonight. Wifi/3G location bug fixed, along with a host of others. Must be getting close to beta status now.

MoNkEyMiKeY · 7 Dec 2010 at 23:19

Running it right now and straight away course location got me within 20 meters.

flibblesan · 8 Dec 2010 at 00:24

randal24 said:
Real bummer they've switched to TFT, probably was the plan all along anyway. Get people interested in the OLED then switch to save production costs. Everyone saves money, except the customer.

On a different note, got an Alpha 4 build of Paul's 2.2 release ready to go on tonight. Wifi/3G location bug fixed, along with a host of others. Must be getting close to beta status now.

Alpha 4 is very good. Not had any problems yet and I'm really happy the course positioning works quickly.

The switch to TFT was always going to happen as the few companies that produce OLED screens just can't keep up with demand. That's why the Nexus One, HTC Desire etc moved from OLED to SLCD. The TFT in the new San Francisco is as good as the OLED and actually has a better touch controller and* sharper text. The only downside is the backlight really but after a few days you won't notice it. Nobody has reported worse battery life.

The Orange San Francisco is still a bargain even with TFT. It has good specs that handle Froyo absolutely fine. Oh and Gingerbread is currently being ported

* might not actually be true although some white sanfran owners are claiming the touch screen is more responsive.

Evilpaul · 8 Dec 2010 at 00:39

I've not seen the TFT screen to compare to the OLED screen my San Francisco has, but the main reason people buy this phone has surely got to by the resolution of the screen?

Performance improvements have meant that new TFT screen have comparable battery drain to OLED screens. Therefore I think the San Fran is still as good a bargain as it ever was.

Winston · 8 Dec 2010 at 09:18

Big sale on for these phones from Orange for 48Hrs, just a heads up

randal · 8 Dec 2010 at 09:24

flibblesan said:
Alpha 4 is very good. Not had any problems yet and I'm really happy the course positioning works quickly.

The switch to TFT was always going to happen as the few companies that produce OLED screens just can't keep up with demand. That's why the Nexus One, HTC Desire etc moved from OLED to SLCD. The TFT in the new San Francisco is as good as the OLED and actually has a better touch controller and sharper text. The only downside is the backlight really but after a few days you won't notice it. Nobody has reported worse battery life.

The Orange San Francisco is still a bargain even with TFT. It has good specs that handle Froyo absolutely fine. Oh and Gingerbread is currently being ported

Is that Modaco Flib?

Ah noted, I'll have to get my hands on one to take a look then if that's the case.

I had to reflash a4 last night after something I installed (possibly the HTC Desire theme?) caused Android system to ramp up to 100% and it wouldn't calm down again. Oh and I think I found a bug with Clockwork 2.5.0.9 where restoring an a4 backup caused the phone to hang at the Modaco boot screen. Upgraded to 2.5.1.3 and reflashed Paul's 2.2 a4 and started again, all good now though.

Spartacus · 8 Dec 2010 at 10:25

Winston said:
Big sale on for these phones from Orange for 48Hrs, just a heads up

Indeed, they have the white one now in stock for just £84 + £10 top up. :cool:

http://shop.orange.co.uk/mobile-phones/pay-as-you-go#

Macky · 8 Dec 2010 at 10:25

Not the AMOLED screens though, be warned.

flibblesan · 8 Dec 2010 at 14:46

Very few will be OLED now. All the white versions are LCD screened and the next batch of grey phones will be LCD also. Same resolution though.

Actually some stores are out of stock of the OLED screened phones and may already have LCD.

MOOGLEYS · 8 Dec 2010 at 14:49

I have just recieved another one for my wife which has the LCD screen. Not sure how anyone can say they are just as good as it looks horrid in comparrison to the Oled screen on my one. Its not as clear and the backlighting is inconsistent, the text is also not as clear...
I,m returning it and going to try and get another Oled one.

PiKe · 8 Dec 2010 at 15:12

Are there no OLED ones left then, not even in orange shops?