[Samsung Galaxy Express SGH-I437 Questions & Answer] caine0001:
Trying to help out with some of the questions on this thread....

This thread contains a lot of questions on and off topic for the thread. I can answer some people's concerns. I have an Express i437 with JB 4.1.2 and I rooted it using the motochopper.zip. I then installed a CWM based recovery that has the same amenities as an official CWM recovery but is actually OUDHS, just CWM based. I have left step by step instructions on doing this on this thread:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2240989 .

The instructions are on page 4 near the bottom. The link to the rooting file is there also. The CWM recovery file is in the OP on that thread. It works perfectly on JB 4.1.2 and the recovery does also. It is just that to get a custom recovery to stick on the Express you have to rename or delete a couple files or it will keep returning you to the stock recovery everytime you reboot. But its all there in the instructions. There are no custom ROMs available yet such as CyanogenMod, since no one with the skills has taken enough interest in the Express to port it to the Express.(If you have found any custom ROMs let me know) The above thread also explains the recovery image being OUDHS CWM-based and not officially CWM. But it has the bells and whistles, so enjoy it like you would an official CWM. The first thing I did was create my Nandroid. And here is some advice: I thought that since this custom recovery worked I would get cocky and try some official CWM recoveries (you know how we all are, wanting the latest and greatest). Big mistake. I tried 4 different ones and every one of them put my phone into complete darkness when I tried to get to recovery mode. So if you decide to not listen to my warning, be prepared to fix your phone when the official CWM recovery that you try doesn't work. Stick with the OUDHS CWM-based one for now.

If anyone is interested, after my update to JB, my GPS works better and quicker than when I had ICS. I pull 18-20 satellites outside and around 10-12 inside and it does it within 10-15 seconds outside and within 30-45 seconds inside. Maybe a minute sometimes. For me, that is much better than ICS did.

Also, if anyone is interested and hasn't found it yet, I have a stock JB recovery image file for the Express. It is a true .img file

Now, on the subject of memory. A few people have mentioned that JB uses a lot more memory than ICS did. Well my understanding from reading a lot of posts and doing research on the web, is that JB reserves a portion of RAM so that it can launch commands quicker. It may show as being used, but it isn't really. It is waiting for a command. This makes JB more efficient, supposedly. And it does run quicker on my phone. This explains why, if you get a good app that can show all the RAM being used by apps on the phone, both user and system, it will not add up to the total that is being shown as being used. Don't flame me for this observation. It is just my experience and what I have gleaned from my research. I may be wrong, but it does make sense to me and since my particular phone runs much faster on JB than on ICS, I tend to believe this observation.

Anyway, I had noticed so many questions on this thread that I have dealt with already I figured I would chime in. I hope that you take it for what it is, my experience. Your mileage may vary. But I am completely confident that if you go to the above thread and go to page 4, you will find the instructions to be flawless for rooting your phone in about 60 seconds and installing the CWM-based recovery with ODIN in about a minute or 2.(Maybe 4 or 5 by the time you get done renaming the files).

But these are my observations. I just wanted to address as many unanswered questions from this thread as I could. But like I said, one or 2 of my observations are maybe subjective, so if you don't agree or have a different experience, please don't burn me up. But I would be interested in what you have observed if it is different than what I have. I sincerely hope that all this is helpful to the OP'er and to all the OT'ers.