[Epic 4G General] akenis:
Funny u should ask! Fedex is on the way today and I won't be making my own goodbye thread. Actually need to flash my gf tonight (and her Epic)!

I've been sitting on upgrade for a while. Passed on SII because lots of folks here said wait for Gnexus. Epic Touch is awesome tho! By the time Gnexus came out, I waited for the SIII release (not super impressed). Now folks are saying Gnexus is kinda lacking on hardware side. So what to do?

My ideal device:

1. Great battery life, screen (I read/browse a lot), responsive, great devs, loud speaker and camera. Guess I could live withous sd card and removable battery, but why?

2. Faster data and cheaper service. I think we can agree that Spring 3G sux balls (actually I never really realized that until reading around a lot). 4G, when/if it works isn't that great, and then bam.... watch the battery die. LTE has possibilities, but why wait? And who really needs those speeds?

3. Fear of loosing my keyboard. Especiall on smaller screens. I think I can adapt to the feel, but hate it taking up 1/2 of the screen!!! Solution: Bigger screen.... And I can use a case!

Actually learned about the Galaxy Note here and was interested, but will it come to Sprint? (I think it will, but why wait?) It's an utterly ridiculous device!!!... first impressions are common. But then read a little, watch a few vids.... and the responces are different! People LOVE this thing and do a 180 after using it, claiming I'll never use anything smaller! Gonna throw away my Iphone 4s!!

Been following Gnexus threads, Epic, and both Att and Int'l Note threads trying to sort through this. Not many folks seem interested in SIII and it's $$$$.

I played with ATT note. Cool, but seemed a bit laggy and $$$ for ATT service. Love Gnexus and AOSP, but lacks SD, loudness, so-so camera and when u have those onscreen buttons it's not much bigger than what we got. Neither is Epic Touch. But Epic Touch is so awesome... buttery smooth. Xenyos!!

Well turns out the ATT note (and prob the comming Sprint version) uses a different chip. The int'l Note is the same Xenyos as Epic touch... great benchmarks. I think it's really a big SII. Plus the pen may come in handy!

Gnexus forum has a great thread on "owning your service." Basically by the damn phone, breakout from the subsidzed upgrade model and stop paying out the ass for service at the big 4. Freedom, to choose!! Att or Tmobile, or any MVNO or company that leases from their towers. That's another beauty of Gnexus GSM pentaband!! The quadband Note however lacks a 1700 band for Tmobile and affiliates, with less flexibility (but Tmobile is changing evidently, and devs might be able to enable 1700 AWS). Tmobile has a $30/month 5Gig and 100 minute plan!!!!

Well Fedex just delivered!! Verdict:

Unlocked Galaxy note. $499 from Expansys

Straight Talk (Walmart) unlimited $45 a month (uses ATT)

$50 ETF to Sprint

$50 for 3rd party insurance

Profit......

Only downsides for me:

1. Look like an idiot when using as phone. (Need bluetooth)!

2. Lack of Gnexus AOSP Greatness!!

3. Adapting to one had operation on huge device

4. Lacking 1700 AWS band... and tmobile options, for now.

5. Warranty lacking

2nd place: Gnexus GSM from from Google for $399!! AOSP AND pentaband. Wouldn't touch it on sprint after what I've learned: battery life not on par w/ GSM version, same 3G suckiness and a long painful wait for LTE.

Honerable mention: SII/Epic Touch rocks. The unlocked version would be quadband as well. Really want the big screen though.

And so begins my new venture. Got a lot to learn: GSM lingo, APN'S, SIM'S, Google Voice/porting, prepaid stuff, data limits, throttling and trying to understand the international diversity in the Note forums!! So I bid thee farewell Mother Sprint!! You have sheltered me for 13 years!! I'm a big boy now...

PS. We have something called Mobile Odin?!!! WTF? Gotta learn quick.... OFFICIAL ICS just dropped today!!!!

PS2. What do I do with my Epic?????