Beginners Guide?

[krakozhianjoe]

Great news! I am replacing Bionic with a DancingNexus this week...

What are the consensus ideas/choices for:

1) Battery - Are the extended batteries a no-brainer? I managed decent battery life with stock battery for Bionic. I am not a fan of bulking up the phone... anyone know if it is better or worse than Bionic?
2) Rom - Geared toward good battery life and features... currently running Bionic Eclipse 2.2.
3) Necessity of screen protector/case - I went naked with the Bionic and never needed a screen protector. Is the Nexus any different?
4) Any other caveats that would be helpful knowledge at the get-go?

Thanks!

 

[cupfulloflol]

Great news! I am replacing Bionic with a DancingNexus this week...

What are the consensus ideas/choices for:

1) Battery - Are the extended batteries a no-brainer? I managed decent battery life with stock battery for Bionic. I am not a fan of bulking up the phone... anyone know if it is better or worse than Bionic?
2) Rom - Geared toward good battery life and features... currently running Bionic Eclipse 2.2.
3) Necessity of screen protector/case - I went naked with the Bionic and never needed a screen protector. Is the Nexus any different?
4) Any other caveats that would be helpful knowledge at the get-go?

Thanks!

1) The Galaxy Nexus should be about on par with the Bionic. Way too many variables when considering battery life, but...they should be in the same ballpark. While I own the 2100mah extended battery, I can't say it is a must buy. It is only about a 10% increase over the stock battery. It doesn't increase the size much though. There are larger batteries out there, but they do add more bulk.

2) ROM is something you will need to figure out once you get your device. Different folks like different ROMs for different reasons. AOKP, Liquid, Sourcery, Gummy, BAMF, Kangorade, and many many other great ROMs are out there. There is even an Eclipse ROM for the Nexus if you are fond of Nitro's work. There are also a large selection of kernels. Experimentation is kinda key to finding the right setup for your device.

3) This is another personal preference thing. I am a big fan of screen protectors that resist smudges, as I have fairly oily hands. This device has scratch resistant glass, so protection wasn't my concern. About a case, I didn't have a case for my OG Droid but once I held the Galaxy Nexus in my hands I felt as though it was a little slippery feeling. I was afraid I could potentially drop it pulling it out of my pocket, so I decided to invest in a case. You may want to think about the battery first, as if you get the extended battery some cases may not fit it, although quite a few still will.

 

[Domestic violence]

get the extended battery. You wont even notice it size-wise and you should get a couple extra hours.

I just got the ringke slim case. Offers enough protection for me, fits the extended battery and comes in 6 colors. I just took the screen protector off yesterday. Too many fingerprints

 

[GalaxyFlatulence]

The ext battery is a waste of money (thats why theyre half off), and get a seido active case

 

[metalspring]

I recommend the extended battery, you get that little bit extra juice and personally I think it makes the phone just look and feel better (eliminates the hump on the back and the little extra weight is reassuring)

As far as roms, the best stock themed rom for tons of features is either aokp, steel Droid, or liquid. There is also black ice which is a darkened aokp with some extras. And for ultimate theming and options I'd say sourcery is the best bet.

And there are 3 major kernels (most popular), Franco kernel, leankernel, and faux kernel.. the best one depends on how each one plays with your phone

Also be sure to try out all the different radio versions and combinations to see what works best with your phone.
Also be aware that the absolute biggest battery drain is the screen and screen brightness plays a big role (4.65 HD screen eats battery)

You might also want to consider buying the Franco kernel app in the market (works with both Franco kernel and lean kernel) to unlock the full potential of those kernels

 

[krakozhianjoe]

Thanks for the advice. I'm going with http://www.amazon.com/Black-Androidified-Samsung-SCH-i515-GT-i9250/dp/B006MKLHDG/ref=pd_cp_cps_1 case for myself, and http://www.amazon.com/Diztronic-Gli..._1_3?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1335108482&sr=1-3 case for the wife. Has anyone had good/bad experience with either of these cases?

Reviews say that cases will fit extended batteries. However, does that mean ANY extended battery, or what? There are like 4-5 juice levels among the different batteries available. How many different physical sizes are there to batteries? I haven't ordered anything yet... just mulling over getting the right combo of battery and case.

 

[Liderc]

If you've gotten by with your Bionic's stock battery you won't need an extended battery for the Nexus, assuming you continue using the phone as much as before.

I would get a screen protector, as I've seen multiple people complain of hairline scratches(I think due to the oleophobic(smudge resistant) layer on the glass, not the glass itself being scratched).

I use Steinheil's oleophobic screen protector, just take your time applying it and it'll work perfectly. Despite it's name it actually collects fingerprints, but out of 5 dry application screen protectors it's the only one I've found good enough to use.

As for ROMs obviously you'll have to do your research and figure out what will work best for you.

When a description says a case will fit the extended battery it means it will fit the one from Verizon, which is only 2100mAh.

 

[metalspring]

The Samsung 2100 extended battery is the only one worth getting if you decide on getting it, the others are made by 3rd party companies and pretty much suck even if they do have higher mAh
With the stock battery expect about 1.5-2 hours screen on time, getting about 2.5-3.5 hours screen on with extended

 

[Liderc]

With the stock battery expect about 1.5-2 hours screen on time, getting about 2.5-3.5 hours screen on with extended

This isn't exactly possible considering the extended is only 250mAh more than the stock.

If the 1850mAh gets you 2 hours of screen time, then the max the 2100mAh extended would get you would be an extra 16.2 minutes of screen time.

This is assuming you get 2 hours of screen time with the 1850mAh, meaning you burn through 15.4mAh per minute of screen time.

Math below in case anyone is wondering.

Assuming 2hours screen time for 1850mAh battery:

1850mAh/120minutes(2 hours) = 15.41mAh per minute
1850mAh/250mAh(what the extended adds) = 7.4%
120minutes/7.4 = 16.2 minutes
2100mAh/15.41mAh per minute = 136.27 minutes of screen time (2 hours 16 minutes of screen time with extended)

Having said that, I usually get close to 3 hours of screen time with the stock battery, but I keep my brightness down to 20-30%.

In my case of 3 hours of screen time it would work out to be about 24.3 minutes of extra screen time with the extended battery.

 

[metalspring]

I don't know about how the math really works out but I affinity notice a difference...at any rate,technically with the extended battery you get 2100 + 1850 mAh since you'll have both batteries if need be