LG Optimus S/T impressions? WP7 eta on Sprint?

[Gooberlx2]

I'm due for an upgrade this coming week on Sprint and I'm thinking about the LG Optimus S since it's free through the 5th (at least online, guy at the store told me today was the last day).

I like the Hero form factor, the lack of physical keyboard, and the fact that it's not a "premium" phone. It seems well regarded in the online reviews, but I was just wondering if anyone here has any impressions.

The other option is waiting it out for WP7, but then I'm afraid how much it'll cost (it certainly won't be free) and if it'll end up being a "premium" phone requiring that extra $10 per month.

Any credible rumors about WP7 on Sprint? I'm dying to get rid of my Pre, but don't mind waiting until sometime in January. But if the fuzzy timeline of Q1 2011 means March (much less H1 2011), then I'll just re-visit the WP7 issue next year.

 

[Deeko]

WP7 is due out early next year (I think I read January, but my brain might be fabricating that). The phone is the HTC 7 Pro, and it looks pretty sweet:

http://www.htc.com/www/product/7pro/overview.html

 

[Gooberlx2]

WP7 is due out early next year (I think I read January, but my brain might be fabricating that). The phone is the HTC 7 Pro, and it looks pretty sweet:

http://www.htc.com/www/product/7pro/overview.html

Yeah, I've seen rumors on sprintusers and wpcentral that pre-orders will be available Dec. 8. I'll miss out on the $50 savings for the Optimus S, but oh well.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

I just got my GF an Optimus on T-mobile. It's apretty good phone. Not quite as responsive as my Vibrant, but is still a good phone. I don't like the system icons though. On the T-mo rom anyways the ions aren't labeled so it's a guessing game as to what they are. They are laid out in a similar fashion, but I'm not sure which one is the FM radio and which one is the GPS.
Oh, the GPS actually works, my phone still takes a minute to lock on.

 

[Anonemous]

I got the Optimus S on BF. It's a sweet phone. It's very responsive and has Swype and Android 2.2 natively. I also like that you can get WIFI hotspot for free without rooting if you google around. It fits in my pocket and is smaller than the EVO/Epic. The screen is vibrant and viewing angles are great. Battery life, I only used it for a few days and it lasted around ~16 hours average of off/on playing games/GPS/surfing/usage/emails/downloading apps/live wall paper (haven't really optimized the battery life). Let me know if you have any questions.

Programs load up fast, tried google goggles/maps/places/voice/browser and everything runs without a hitch. Only game I tried was Angry birds and it works beautifully.

Wifi tethered, I got like 110-140 ping on L4d2 with ~1.10M/.5M speeds (2-3 bars). Played an entire campaign thru the wifi tether.

Google's speech to text is amazingly accurate. Swype is a learning curve.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Well I went ahead and ordered one. My Pre shut off 3 times today for no good reason. Just sitting there on my desk....fuck it.

The CSR on the phone was awesome and went ahead and gave me the full upgrade on the second line (which still makes the Optimus S free) today. And the primary line still retains its full upgrade eligibility starting tomorrow. My wife can upgrade to WP7 whenever it comes out.

edit:
Goddamnit! Nevermind. The CSR promised me one thing, and then when I was transferred to the people who would fill the order request, they told me it was impossible, even at the supervisor level. So I just left things as they are....fuckers.

 

[Anonemous]

One thing I learned is that there is no flash (camera and player) for the Optimus S.

 

[gsaldivar]

Goddamnit! Nevermind. The CSR promised me one thing, and then when I was transferred to the people who would fill the order request, they told me it was impossible, even at the supervisor level. So I just left things as they are....fuckers.

Don't settle. Call back and talk to someone else. Be persistent and polite until you get the answer you want.

Good luck!

 

[Gooberlx2]

Don't settle. Call back and talk to someone else. Be persistent and polite until you get the answer you want.

Good luck!

I did...twice. They really won't budge on that shit. I don't see the point in threatening retentions, since I know I won't leave my corporate discount.

I'm having them change my line to the primary so I can at least get the full upgrade on it. (I actually have no idea why it was ever switched to secondary. Must've been a mixup one of the several times we had the Pre replaced between me and my wife).

FWIW, one of the supervisors I spoke to let slip that she was pretty sure the 7Pro will be a "premium" phone, which means +$10/month for those interested. Hopefully she's wrong about that.

 

[Jawo]

Hmmm...I'm in the same boat with the Pre. Sick and tired of the OS being sluggish and the battery dying if I forget to keep it plugged in overnight. Debating if the EVO/Epic are worth it.

 

[state 08]

I switched this week from Pre to Optimus S.

Wow, just wow. It is worlds better than the Pre.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Hmmm...I'm in the same boat with the Pre. Sick and tired of the OS being sluggish and the battery dying if I forget to keep it plugged in overnight. Debating if the EVO/Epic are worth it.

I just pulled the trigger on the EVO last week and was also coming from the Pre. No regrets at all, this phone is a beast. Now if the new EVO-lite (Desire Z?) comes out in the next couple of weeks I may pay the restocking fee and try it out but at this point I'm happier than I expected with the EVO.

 

[Gooberlx2]

I got my Optimus S the other day. Absolutely no regrets coming from a Pre. Even overclocked my Pre wasn't nearly as smooth, not to mention the joke that was the battery life, lack of apps, etc... Swype is awesome. I don't miss the Pre's teeny-tiny keyboard at all.

Really, it's tough to beat this phone for free, IMO.

 

[Anonemous]

You guys should head over to android central and try their ROMs for the Optimus S. Pretty much double the speeds with the optimizations (JIT/HW Acceleration enabled) with little to no effect on battery life.

 

[Gooberlx2]

You guys should head over to android central and try their ROMs for the Optimus S. Pretty much double the speeds with the optimizations (JIT/HW Acceleration enabled) with little to no effect on battery life.

Other than enabling JIT and stagefright (and overclocking, which I probably wouldn't do), what advantages are there to rooting/ROMing this phone? With the exception of the Sprint ID stuff, which consumes little to no resource if one hasn't installed any ID-packs, it's essentially a stock Android experience.

That said, I did root and edit my build.prop to allow jit and stagefright.

Quadrant went from something like 417 to 983, and Linpack from 3.69 to 7.223 mflops. Pretty nice boosts. We'll see about stability.

 

[litttlechica]

I have a palm centro and I was so happy to see this post of so many pre users whoh have switched to the Optimus S and loved it. I love palm and am nervous about switching but I have the upgrade $ available and it doesn't look like palm will release a new phone with sprint anytime soon (at least not a brand new model - hearing many bad things about the pre and the pixi).
I have never had a touchscreen keyboard and I'm really worried about getting one... anyone have input on getting used to it? Is it really something I should steer away from this phone over?
Is there anything else to consider coming from a palm?
Id love input! Thanks!

 

[finbarqs]

i lost my webOS phone because it got hit by saltwater. I got the EVO 4g thinking that it would be an "upgrade". Sure, now I have autofocus camera, and a higher resolution screen, but I sorely missed the Palm Pre and it's WebOS. man times I really wanted to chuck my EVO out the window, with it's consistent "accidental answers" and hitting one of the capacitive buttons on the bottom, accidentally.

 

[Gooberlx2]

I have never had a touchscreen keyboard and I'm really worried about getting one... anyone have input on getting used to it? Is it really something I should steer away from this phone over?

I wouldn't worry about it. The Pre's keyboard keys are so small, that anyone with fingertips thicker than a pinhead would have issues anyway. I do suggest using swype for the Android keyboard. It takes a little getting used to, but it's pretty fast once you do.

 

[litttlechica]

Thanks for your input! I decided to go ahead and get the LG Optimus but I guess they just ran out of stock - figures. (I have to order online/phone since I have SERO) Hopefully they'll get a shipment in soon!

 

[Wingznut]

I have never had a touchscreen keyboard and I'm really worried about getting one... anyone have input on getting used to it? Is it really something I should steer away from this phone over?

You could always hit up your local Sprint (or T-Mobile) store and try out the Optimus. Swype is way cooler than I thought it would be, before I tried it.

 

[litttlechica]

You could always hit up your local Sprint (or T-Mobile) store and try out the Optimus. Swype is way cooler than I thought it would be, before I tried it.

Thanks it's comforting to know that you like swype.
I went to a store to try the phone out but even though I called ahead to see if they had a live version, they just had an unactivated one so barely anything worked. I just played with what I could on it and then looked at the other android phones to get used to how the software worked. Swype wasn't set up so I didn't get to try it.

I am still waiting for sprint to get them in stock but in the meantime I've been reading about lots of trouble syncing with google calendar/contacts. Have you used these features and do they work ok as long as you know how to do it?

 

[Gooberlx2]

I've been reading about lots of trouble syncing with google calendar/contacts. Have you used these features and do they work ok as long as you know how to do it?

Works perfectly fine for me.

 

[litttlechica]

I got the LG Optimus last night and I LOVE it! The only major thing I haven't figured out yet is how to get it to notify me by flashing or something when I get texts.. I downloaded "Missed Reminder" but it doesn't seem like it's working the way I set it up. I'll figure it out, though!
Thanks for the advice.. I do love Swype!