*Breaking News* on Nexus

[Radeon962]

Now to wait and see what the second hand market drops to. Swappa sellers are still $270 or more. I don't want to be the dick that tells them they are more than retail new.

They have already started over at Swappa with the comments and offering $150 for a used Nexus 4 since the new ones are so cheap. Hate to be selling one right now.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

thats quite a deal, i wonder why they didnt drop it by just $50, they certainly didnt have to go that low

 

[Oyeve]

Other than the lower price I never understood the fanaticism for Nexus phones. They, IMO, always seem lackluster.

 

[cronos]

Other than the lower price I never understood the fanaticism for Nexus phones. They, IMO, always seem lackluster.

To me the draw is pretty much only the price and the fact that it's a Nexus device. Hardware+features have never been a high priority for me. I never did get one though, and I don't regret it.

 

[Ariae]

Nope, the s4 Goolge Play Edition is buggy.
The applications can't even read/write the uSD card, people are returning it.

People are returning it? According to who?

My GS4 has been flawless since 4.3. You can fix the SD issue w/ a simple Google search.

 

[ChronoReverse]

Well, I guess I'll pick up a N4 for my dad instead of the Galaxy Nexus.

 

[jiffylube1024]

Between this and both the 2012 and 2013 Nexus 7, google is basically dumping hardware onto the market.
This is going to drive down prices for all the other manufacturers alike apple, sammy, htc, etc. Not good to be a hardware only phone/tablet manufacturer against google right now.

Yep. Guerilla warfare against Apple. Looks like they're both cutting inventory before an inevitable Nexus 5, and trying to pre-empt any value proposition that an off-contract iPhone 5C may have (especially at the rumored $399-449 price tag).

The Nexus 7 is such a freaking insane value at $229, and the N4 at $199/249 is pretty hot for an off-contract phone as well. I almost bought an N4 last night at the news before realizing I have a Galaxy S3 (32GB), and have no need whatsoever for an N4 right now. It's just such a good deal compared to what else it out there!

 

[jiffylube1024]

Other than the lower price I never understood the fanaticism for Nexus phones. They, IMO, always seem lackluster.

Well, a Nexus 4 at $399 vs a Galaxy S3 at $599/$699 was an interesting debate, and the N4 at $199/$249 vs a Galaxy S4 at $599/$699 also makes you really ponder what you need vs what you want.

They may seem lackluster if you're paying for a contract, but off-contract, they're very attractive due to the price.

 

[Midwayman]

Only thing keeping me from snapping one up is the lack of LTE. I'd really like that on my next phone.

 

[BrightCandle]

LTE is higher bandwidth at peak due to its dynamic allocation of spectrum. But that isn't the reason its better for web browsing. The big deal is the peak and average latencies based on connection speeds. 3G can take up to about 2.5 seconds to make its first ping out to a website due to the connection sleeping mechanisms in place. Once it gets connected it can be as low as about 150ms but it rarely achieves that and tends to be more like 500ms.

One of the big changes for LTE is the core network technology is based on IP and hence is just another network. Latency is noticeably improved and supposedly the network latency introduced is 5ms, which in a practical sense means the roundtrip can be below 100ms. Whether in practice with lots of customers LTE achieves that is questionable but it will definitely have better latency than 3G in the best,average and worst cases significantly. But since the overhead of carrying data and voice is reduced we should see about 4x the bandwidth on the network so it wont clog up as badly as HSPDA+ services have.

But if you compare the raw bandwidth and constant connection performance they often don't look that dissimilar right now as your provider may not have the bandwidth to back it all. LTE can go up to about 300mbit/s down and 75 Mbit/s upload so there is definitely the room there in the spectrum and spec to go faster than HSPDA+. The other big selling point in my opinion is the significantly increased sample rate which increases voice quality no end. Once we are all on LTE or 4G services I am hopefully we will stop sounding like our head is in a bucket.

Still not available where I live and work unfortunately but looking forward to a 4G upgrade once it arrives.

 

[lopri]

People here are well aware of the pluses and minuses of Nexus devices. There are those that run through every Nexus devices, and some specific to Nexus 4. For me personally the phone itself is attractive enough, does everything I want, and I find interesting new apps on a regular basis (and they're always compatible with Nexus 4 first). I can "upgrade" to any phone I want @AT&T for $99 but I haven't bothered.

There is no competition between HSPA and LTE as to speed, but you end up paying for the GB you use, and that can be seen as glass half-full or half-empty. I know it first hand because I have 3 LTE devices and 2 HSPA devices under a shared data plan I pay for. If you are using a lot of data on the go, then LTE is def. desirable although HSPA is not a slouch. If you have Wi-Fi access in more places than you care to, then you might as well save your mileage and use Wi-Fi - and in that scenario LTE becomes less important.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

LTE is higher bandwidth at peak due to its dynamic allocation of spectrum. But that isn't the reason its better for web browsing. The big deal is the peak and average latencies based on connection speeds. 3G can take up to about 2.5 seconds to make its first ping out to a website due to the connection sleeping mechanisms in place. Once it gets connected it can be as low as about 150ms but it rarely achieves that and tends to be more like 500ms.

One of the big changes for LTE is the core network technology is based on IP and hence is just another network. Latency is noticeably improved and supposedly the network latency introduced is 5ms, which in a practical sense means the roundtrip can be below 100ms. Whether in practice with lots of customers LTE achieves that is questionable but it will definitely have better latency than 3G in the best,average and worst cases significantly. But since the overhead of carrying data and voice is reduced we should see about 4x the bandwidth on the network so it wont clog up as badly as HSPDA+ services have.

But if you compare the raw bandwidth and constant connection performance they often don't look that dissimilar right now as your provider may not have the bandwidth to back it all. LTE can go up to about 300mbit/s down and 75 Mbit/s upload so there is definitely the room there in the spectrum and spec to go faster than HSPDA+. The other big selling point in my opinion is the significantly increased sample rate which increases voice quality no end. Once we are all on LTE or 4G services I am hopefully we will stop sounding like our head is in a bucket.

Still not available where I live and work unfortunately but looking forward to a 4G upgrade once it arrives.

Thanks for the explanation. I'm looking forward to my next phone which WILL have LTE. I'm hoping the Nexus 5 makes a compelling buy in terms of specs. Otherwise I may have to look at the GS4 GPE.

 

[BoberFett]

I'm ready for a new phone and have had my fill of Virgin (the Sprint network is ass around here) so I'm liking this option. Then the question is what carrier? It sounds like TMobile Prepaid and Straight Talk are the best options. Anybody have a preference or other suggestions?

 

[Uppsala9496]

ST is no longer doing at&t as an MVNO.

I just ordered the 16GB for my wife since her GN is starting to develop a flaky usb input. Cable falls out way too easily and half the time her phone doesn't charge overnight as a result. For $285 after tax/shipping this is a good deal.

 

[Chocu1a]

ST is no longer doing at&t as an MVNO.

I just ordered the 16GB for my wife since her GN is starting to develop a flaky usb input. Cable falls out way too easily and half the time her phone doesn't charge overnight as a result. For $285 after tax/shipping this is a good deal.

At&t Sims for straight talk are back in stock. Have been since early July.
Also, at&t has a pretty sweet deal with GoPhone, unlimited talk and text with 2gb lte for $60 month.

 

[Uppsala9496]

Quick question - going from a GN to the N4, I will have to cut my SIM card to a smaller size won't I? I'm using straight talk on the at&t network so if I screw up the cut I am...well screwed. ST isn't selling at&t SIMS anymore.

 

[Midwayman]

ST is no longer doing at&t as an MVNO.

I just ordered the 16GB for my wife since her GN is starting to develop a flaky usb input. Cable falls out way too easily and half the time her phone doesn't charge overnight as a result. For $285 after tax/shipping this is a good deal.

I thought I heard a story that ST had ATT sims back in a week or two ago. There is always go phone if you really want on the ATT network (and they have LTE). Also you can buy ST ATT sims on ebay if you really want one. My ATT sim on ST still works.

 

[kaerflog]

Why are people even bothering with the 8GB model?

I've been using one since Feb and I don't have a problem.

 

[kaerflog]

Other than the lower price I never understood the fanaticism for Nexus phones. They, IMO, always seem lackluster.

Well, you just answered your own question.
Thats like saying whats so great about Wal-mart beside the low prices.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

I've been using one since Feb and I don't have a problem.

The thing is, you could make a 4gb phone and people could get by, but what's the point? There's always people who can get by and even those who can't, they can make changes to adjust to that.

My issue with the 8gb/16gb is that sure I've maintained a decent amount of free space. But I'm always fearful I'll run out of space for a Nandroid backup when I need it, or I won't be able to take a video when I need to. I relegate all photo taking to my iPhone where I have something like 6gb of photos and video. There's always something in the back of my mind making me watch out for my usage of space on my Nexus. That fear was completely nonexistent on my Galaxy S2 when I had the 16gb of onboard storage on top of a 32gb microSD card.

I just don't feel its appropriate that we need to be extra careful of the limited space on phones. It's kinda like hard drives. You don't need to watch out for space anymore unless you're downloading 1080p 50gb blurays nonstop on your fiber connection.

 

[Ksyder]

Quick question - going from a GN to the N4, I will have to cut my SIM card to a smaller size won't I? I'm using straight talk on the at&t network so if I screw up the cut I am...well screwed. ST isn't selling at&t SIMS anymore.

just grab a sim cutter. they have them on ebay for less than $5 incl. shipping.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Goddamn that's a nice deal!

But no LTE, no use for me.

HSPA+ is almost as fast as LTE.

 

[Chocu1a]

HSPA+ is almost as fast as LTE.

No it is not. My Nexus 4 is on T-Mobile. My Note 2 is on Verizon. I also have a AT&T goPhone sim for my Note 2 which gets hspa+.
Verizon LTE is way faster & consistent. Both GSM networks switch between 3g, H, & H+ constantly. 4G LTE is always 4G LTE, except in rural areas.

 

[dawheat]

Picked up a 16GB one since I couldn't resist the price. Gonna be mostly a second play phone, probably with Airvoice since I have no need for voice/text and they charge something like $0.60 per mb of data. So occasionally using it for Google Wallet (since AT&T blocked it on my Note 2) and mostly on wifi.

I'm going to sell my Note 2 as soon as the Note 3 is announced so I'll probably pop my AT&T SIM into it to tide me over a month.

 

[lothar]

Why are people even bothering with the 8GB model?

What is my mom and other non-technically inclined people going to do with the 16GB model that they can't already do with the 8GB model?

The apps on my mom's Nexus 4 are the same exact apps that I downloaded when I set her phone up in April. She has not bought a single "paid" app after I gave the phone to her. She has not installed a single "free" app after I gave the phone to her. She does not watch movies or listen to music on her phone.
What does she need all that space for when all she uses the phone for is Google Navigation, Google Talk, phone calls, texting, and Bluetooth(for talking hands free)?

Not everyone buying the 8GB model is buying it for themselves.