D1 to Fascinate

[Eddog4DROID]

Any one go from a D1 to the Fascinate? I am just curious if it its a good of bad experience? I am thinking of getting one refurbished as a stop gap until the super phones of 2011 hit.

Keep in mind I'm not afraid of rooting....

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[SlvrEvoIX]

D1-dx-sf i love it.

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[vannope]

The other day I did go from a Droid 1 to a Fascinate. Like any phone it has it’s pros and cons.

One thing – this phone is really, really fast. I’ve used the stock Samsung theme, ADW, LauncherPro (paid version) and Zeam. On the D-1 there were lag issues with ADW and LP (especially LP)… not so on the S-F. The screen is amazing and the colors are brilliant.

I use my phone for both personal and for work, and I don’t like the fact that there’s no LED notification. What that means for me is that I’m constantly going out of sleep-mode to check if something came in. I’ve never had a phone without LED, and it’s really disconcerting… something I can’t seem to get out of my head. Another thing that’s been totally annoying?!?!? The hard buttons are not the same as the D-1, so I’m constantly hitting the wrong function due to muscle memory. Something else you may want to keep in mind is that it’s ROM is 2.1.1 and I haven’t seen any indication that there will be an upgrade to at least 2.2, let alone 2.3.

I am tad on the A.D.H.D. side and with my D-1 I had it rooted and was constantly playing around and changing ROM’s and themes. Can’t really do that on the S-F.

Right now I’m in a test phase (stock). Tomorrow I’m probably going to trade it in for a Droid-X so that I can test that too. The way I look at it is that I’m going to have to live with the phone for a year, so I want to be comfortable with it.

For me the bottom line is – I really do like the Fascinate, but it does take some getting used to if you’ve had Droid for any length of time. The lack of an LED is pretty much a pain, but it’s stupidly fast and you can’t beat the screen and multi-media player – Movies and clips are quite stunning.

Hope this helps

Pvn

 

[dispatch1054]

I just bought the Fascinate yesterday and agree with just about everything vannope said. The lack of led notifications is kind of annoying but, there is an application made for galaxy s phones called NoLED that makes an led on the screen in an interesting way. Its very helpful.

The screen is absoutely brilliant! Great colors, very vivid, and IMO the perfect size. It was either this or the DX and size was certianly a factor. However, while I don't mind the plastic backing, the phone is extremely light. Maybe too light, but I guess I'm just getting used to it.

The fascinate is also super fast stock. I was a diehard D1 fan, and romd and themed it frequently, and xda seems to have a decent sized community for the Fascinate. I can't wait to see how fast this thing is rooted and de-binged! Also when 2.2 comes out supposedly at the end if the year, I'm sure roms will be much more available.

So there ya have it. So far I really like the Fascinate and I don't think you'll be disappointed if you decide to pick one up.

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[Eddog4DROID]

Thanks for the info. I can live without the led.

Ebay had one for 350 refurbished. Apparently a common seller called mobilepc. Sells all sorts of phones online. The bad, can't get refund only replacement if defects. The good, no contract. I can always sell worst case...

What is the process to root and de-bing? My droid 1 is rooted and I am also ADHD and changing ROMs themes aand Kernels...

Edit: Question again, is there a painless fix for the GPS issue? GPS is integral for me.

I'd use either ADW or LP--please tell me there are no redraws? How about screen lag? I am a widget whore.

Id consider this a loan phone to see if I can handle a 4" phone and if I can live without a physical keyboard. I hope this has strong resale value if kept in perfect condition thru late winter early spring? Id love to get 300 back...

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[dispatch1054]

Thanks for the info. I can live without the led.

Ebay had one for 350 refurbished. Apparently a common seller called mobilepc. Sells all sorts of phones online. The bad, can't get refund only replacement if defects. The good, no contract. I can always sell worst case...

What is the process to root and de-bing? My droid 1 is rooted and I am also ADHD and changing ROMs themes aand Kernels...

Edit: Question again, is there a painless fix for the GPS issue? GPS is integral for me.

I'd use either ADW or LP--please tell me there are no redraws? How about screen lag? I am a widget whore.

Id consider this a loan phone to see if I can handle a 4" phone and if I can live without a physical keyboard. I hope this has strong resale value if kept in perfect condition thru late winter early spring? Id love to get 300 back...

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Sure thing! $350 sounds like a really good deal. And yeah, you can always resell it if it comes to that, but hopefully it doesn't.

As far as root goes, I'm not quite sure what the process is like. I think there is just a one step root now though, and then there is a ROM that installs without Bing. I'm planning on rooting a little later today, so I can let you know.

I've actually been using the Touch Wiz launcher more than ADW/LP just to get used to it, but as far as I can tell there has been no redraw/lag, and LP is faster than the stock launcher.

GPS: Not entirely sure, but there are some fixes out there for this. It's not 100%, but I've heard you can make it much better than it is. There is also a "lagfix" that seems to change the way the Fascinate handles memory, making it faster. Again, I plan on doing some of these things this evening, so I'll keep you informed and let you know how it goes!

 

[Eddog4DROID]

Well I just won one on eBay ($340 two weeks old, perfect condition--clean ECN). I hope to keep it anywhere from 2-10 months. It is kind of a stop gap to see if I want a big screen phone without a hard keyboard.

I really hope 2.2 comes soon and a gps fix as well. Outside of that, really looking forward to using this.

 

[powell730]

I also went from a d1 to sf about about 3 weeks ago, so far very happy with the switch. You do not need to root to fix bing.. I don't know anything about rooting but I have all google for searching features on my phone. Gps status fixes the gps problem. My understanding is that there is supposed to be an update (not 2.2) very soon to fix the gps, update the baseband, and some other little fixes. Hopefully that phone update is soon and then this phone will be amazing. Then once 2.2 comes out it will be the best phone on the market IMO. One thing to note is that I've noticed that while on the browser on the SF you can play most videos, how idk but I remember on the d1 until 2.2 came out there was no videos online.

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[Eddog4DROID]

Hey do you know if the sf uses the same charging cable as the d1?

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[powell730]

Hey do you know if the sf uses the same charging cable as the d1?

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Yes it does.

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[dispatch1054]

Well I just won one on eBay ($340 two weeks old, perfect condition--clean ECN). I hope to keep it anywhere from 2-10 months. It is kind of a stop gap to see if I want a big screen phone without a hard keyboard.

I really hope 2.2 comes soon and a gps fix as well. Outside of that, really looking forward to using this.

Hey Congrats on the purchase! I think you'll be very satisfied until those next gen phones start launching.

So I rooted my phone tonight and it was fairly simple. I have a Mac so it took a bit to find all the right information but everything was very straightforward. I am now mostly Bing free and using launcher pro: ). Since you were into modding the Droid it should be a smooth process for you. So far, I haven't romd it or overclocked it, but that also seems like a breeze.

I also just wanna say that this phone is flying! I haven't done every enhancement yet and I can only imagine what 2.2 will be like.

Hope this helps!

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[Eddog4DROID]

Very good. I had "charging stations" everywhere with my Droid. And the SF sounds like it has even worse battery life.

I am not happy about 2.1 but worst case, this phone is a placeholder for me. At least, I cant wait to have a 4" SAMOLED screen though....

 

[mcapozzi]

Battery life on the SF is great, I usually get about 36 hours out of a full charge.

I've rooted mine and I'm running JT1134's clean rom and the phone just flies. No Bing, no VZW bloatware, everything works great.

Ran TouchWiz, ADW Launcher, and now LauncherPro Plus without issue.

-Mike

 

[Eddog4DROID]

I went to Best Buy and played with a functional Fascinate this morning--wow, Touchwiz is just awful. Its like a happy-go-lucky iPhone, a three year old with Crayons. Launcher Pro here I come!

 

[Eddog4DROID]

Here's another question to compare the two phones:

I love the audio quality of the D1. How's the speaker on the SF in comparison?

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