yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Monkz:
Heh its just the $100 for an extra 16GB which is rediculous. If a person has the money and its really important to them to have a 32GB and 64 GB SD Card all the power to them, but really going 16GB + 64 GB SD card is more than overkill for 90% of the userbase and its the best bang for the buck. It would be a different story if there werent ways around the App to SD limitations, but since there are it doesnt really make much sense, and i just don't know what a person could do to really truly fill up that much space and use it all.

Im the heaviest user of all the people i know irl, and i only use a total of about 55 gigs on my device. Thats with over 25 3D games, and movies and music on my device, and to be honest i dont even use 70% of those installed games, they are just installed for the sake of being there, and i could easily just back them up and restore them at the time i want to play them to save more space, but its unneccesary.

I was really upset at first before i knew of Foldermount, and thought i would have to eternally be shackled with 9 gigs, but upon finding that, it unlocked everything and gave me relief that i didnt have to spend the money for a 32 or 64gb model which werent available at the time i purchased my phone.

Like im not saying nobody stores more on their phone than me. Im certain people do, but atleast if people know they can buy the 16GB device and store ~70 gigs unrestricted then most of those people dont have to spend the extra $100 for space they werent going to need anyways.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] iCuiD:
Yay

Sweet, can't wait. I wish they had better coverage -.-
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] AliceBToklas:
I'm buying at full price so it's only an additional $50.

To each their own.

---------- Post added at 04:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:43 PM ----------

After talking to the folks at the local store (clueless) and online (very helpful) I finally gave up getting the phone subsidized while maintaining unlimited data and just paid full price. Hopefully it will be here next week and I'll be back with many questions/problems/whatever. May just enjoy the new stock phone for a bit before rooting and ROMs.

Until then I'd like to wish everyone (in the US at least) a happy 4th of July.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] darwinosx:
SD cards are unreliable and slow. Google does not support them so Samsung had to include an app to put apps on the card. Many Google and other apps don't work with an SD card. Shipping a phone with 9 gb of usable space is idiotic and insulting to buyers.

---------- Post added at 10:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:05 PM ----------

Verizon has dropped the subsidized price to $249 and now say it is shipping by 7/8. Full price is still $699.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Metallice:
No, you just get what you pay for. There are classes of sdcards for a reason, and some manufacturers are more reliable than others.

Although with a class 10 UHS-1 I'm probably in the minority. Everyone else in this world (xda obviously not representative) seems to have class 2 or 4... Which probably are slow and unreliable.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Monkz:
My external SD is much faster than my internal, and all apps work on my External SD perfectly. Just because they don't officially support it, doesn't mean apps won't work, cause they all do, and when you get a high end SD card it pays off.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] dknow101:
What are you using to throw your apps on external?

That would be great if you can post a link for me.

Thanks
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Monkz:
Foldermount: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.devasque.fmount
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] graptharshammer:
How did you track / compare the speed of your internal vs external SD?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Metallice:
A1 bench will work. But he is 100% full of it. The external can never be faster. You get diminishing returns in the s4 compared to using the card on a pc.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] graptharshammer:
That's what I figured but I couldn't find a good source to educate myself on this. My search-fu is apparently not strong enough. I just got mine almost 2 weeks ago and bought a Class 10 SanDisk Extreme on Amazon, but I can still return it to VZW (pay a restocking fee, I guess) and get the 32gb version on Friday. Trying to decide if it's worth the pain in the ass or not.

I don't run high performance games, but I'm also a little concerned about all the SD disasters I've read about with this phone. I keep my TWRP nandroid on the external along with my TiBu app data backup. What I don't want is to run into disaster and not be able to recover my phone easily.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] rushless:
You guys beat me to it. Not to mention the OS uses the internal storage as virtual space (cache) for operation, so even IF the card were faster (no way due in part to chipset design), the internal storage would be a bottleneck and negate any improvement.

This is one of the reasons low internal storage causes performance and app install issues. Does not matter how much card storage you have for apps if internal is low.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] mattymillz:
i wonder when verizon stores are going to carry it
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Metallice:
The cache is its own partition. Filling up the data partition wouldn't bottleneck the cache partition.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] dohturdima:
MicroSD cards fail, sometimes unexpectedly like my 32gb SanDisk ultra decided to do yesterday. Lost a bunch of important data which I didn't have a chance to backup. Apparently, this is not uncommon - so extra storage space is def a premium for me.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] rushless:
I am referring to app issues when trying to update. The apps tend to fail due to lack of storage and during the process lags the device. Main point is still

even if the micro sd was faster, the bottle neck would be the internal storage that the OS uses.

BTW, the 32GB is sold out and next batch is 7/8.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Metallice:
I've really only seen this with high capacity sandisk cards.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] IamPro:
Best thing since sliced bread.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] AliceBToklas:
Just ordered a Samsung 64GB card. Figured if I have issues I only have one company to complain to. As I understood it I may have caused damage to my Sandisk card when I formatted it in my Inc2 and wanted to avoid the hassle.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] DarkMenace:
FolderMount doesnt always work. I tried to link my internal DCIM folder to my SDCard DCIM folder and then did an 8 shot photo shot amd it saved to the internal.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] jmk32:
So I finally got a chance to call my corp Verizon rep today and no luck getting them to set me up with the 32gb S4 and keeping my unlimited data without paying full retail. Verizon really sucks with all these customer-unfriendly policies with unlimited, pushing back upgrades dates , etc. I'd leave them in a second if anyone else had as good coverage for my biz needs.

Local Verizon store rep told me a few weeks ago about what I guess some of you have done with switching to a family plan with an extra line and doing something to activate the s4 on a new line to get the subsidized cost, while paying $20 or $30/month more than my current. I did ask the corp rep about that scenario and he said I couldn't do that (or had to wait til my (pushed back) upgrade date in January. So I'll swing by that local store soon and talk about that scenario again...crazy the hoops we need to jump through now to just get a new phone :(
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] brizey:
I just tried it. Set it up in FolderMount, set the camera for device storage, took a picture, checked with root explorer, and the picture is on the external card.

You do know it will LOOK like it's on the the internal card, but that folder will actually be a virtual mount from the external card. If it shows up on the external card it's working. Try taking out the external card...it should be gone from the internal card...and if you put the card in a reader it will be on the external card. Our just disable FolderMount.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] nanospedy:
Nice to have a date for this release.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] rushless:
That is the cool thing about choice. Get the 9gb version and root and folder mount and deal with potential issues, or pay the extra for the 25gb version and not deal with rooting for more storage.

One way saves money and the other is more convenient. Choice is nice, but some are stuck with the 9gb due to the larger model taking weeks longer to launch.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] rednoved:
Man. I just realized. It's already been 6 weeks now hasn't it. Has anyone received theirs yet?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] AliceBToklas:
They just started shipping on Wednesday so I'd expect today or tomorrow some luck people may have something to report. I was a bit late so I expect mine to ship on Monday. Really looking forward to it.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] matt6906:
Verizon: We have no plans to release the 32G S4 variant.

Verizon: We have plans to release the 32G S4 variant.

Thanks, Verizon. I'm glad I already bought my S4. So typical.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] rushless:
The funny thing is there are two stories going around:

1. At&t had launch window exclusivity through June. This makes the most sense.

2. Verizon never planned on carrying the 32GB and only changed their minds when sales were not as expected. It would take at least four to six weeks to decide and then physically provide a 32GB to customers, so this seems wrong. Given the lead time and planning needed, it seems At&t did have exclusivity, Verizon did not want to admit it (so kept quiet) and then they released when they could. All while selling the 16 model at last years 32 model price. Win all around for Verizon it seems and Verizon quietly had the 32GB prepared in the background.

The 32GB is apparently gaining steam since word got out. A key point of tension is in stores and on phone for people wanting to return the 32GB beyond the official return window. Considering it would take WEEKS to plan the 32GB version- load firmware, brand, test, package and ship- NO WAY people up the chain of management did not know.

All they had to do was tell their customers so the ones that wanted a 32 could wait

. Instead, they are dealing with understandably irate customers.

Verizon would be smart to cut slack on the return window and make their customers happy

. It is Verizon's fault this silliness is now happening because of lack of communication.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] jmk32:
Just pulled the trigger on a 32gb S4 today, hope to get it Monday .

Lots of hoops to run through to get it at the subsidized cost as my corp rep said I couldn't get it until my pushed back upgrade date in January. Local Verizon store had me switch my individual plan to a family plan within extra line I could play around with.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] AliceBToklas:
Good luck getting it on Monday and do let us know. My latest understanding is that no more *ship* until then. But, I'm pretty much in the same boat and would love to see it sooner than later.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] General Tso:
My S3 ruined 3 SanDisk Class 10 card. I lost my photos each time. I will not have that happen again. SD cards are not reliable or the way of the future.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] evltwn72:
I believe the photo bursts can only be saved to the internal storage. It's that way in the Note 2 and when I had an S4 (returned, waiting for 32GB to be released in store) it did the same.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Metallice:
Sandisk. That was your problem. Sandisk high capacity cards are notoriously unreliable. They overheat, get corrupted, and break.

As I said you get what you pay for.

Edit:

And of course they are not the "way of the future". They are, however, the "way of the now"... at least until 64GB becomes the minimum and 128GB becomes the upgrade. (For me of course... others' needs vary)
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] IamPro:
What would you recommend?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Metallice:
Samsung UHS-1 speed. Not much more than a sandisk c10, but it is faster and completely reliable. Just compare the amazon reviews between them. Plus samsung + samsung makes sense :)

Seriously every single time I read a thread about sd card troubles.... its a sandisk with a capacity of 32GB or more.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] rushless:
I have had the S3 for a year now with 64GB Sandisk micro SD and no problems. Perhaps I am jinxing myself now, but I have never had a sd or micro sd card go bad on any device. Now I did have a 32GB thumbdrive go bad on me.

I am sure the cloud loving carriers who want people to blow their data caps and the content providers who HATE consumers having content external to their control love your view of the future.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Berzerker7:
Wut. Sandisk is consistently rated as a top SDCard manufacturer. I've had multiple Sandisk cards for many different Android phones and have not had any issues with them at all.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] gadget!:
Good news for thoes that ordered.

I ordered mine on Wednesday, was supposed to ship on the 8th.

I just got an email with a tracking number from Verizon, it shipped today

I clicked on the tracking link and confirmed it was picked up by FedX and is scheduled for delivery Tuesday the 9th! :fingers-crossed:
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] williamweaver:
Yea same here man. I got lucky and returned my 16GB on day 14.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Metallice:
Of course. I'm sure many if not most are fine.

Id love to see those. Im assuming your talking about top in reliability and not top in sales right?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] dohturdima:
Sorry, but I've only had one no-name usd card fail on me amongst the dozen used in the past prior to SanDisk Ultra 32 gb failure. Even though I am getting it replaced, it will be going straight to Ebay. No way will I trust my data again to this crap manufacturer.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] AliceBToklas:
Well, I'm green with envy. Mine is still showing as shipping on Monday. Happy for you though.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] jmk32:
Ordered mine Friday, got confirmation last night it was shipped, but estimated delivery says Wednesday the 10th. Guess we'll see...
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Delakit:
If I want to pay my 35 dollar restocking fee on top of am extra 50 dollars for the difference I will definitely switch. If the restocking fee want in the equation this would be a no-brainer for me. But we'll see if Google thinks I'm feeling lucky or not.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] rushless:
Ordered mine today with next day delivery. Paid full price over the twelve month installments plan.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Cruiserdude:
My first smartphone was a Droid Charge I bought when it first came out, and it came with a 32gb class 4 SanDisk card (most people apparently got class 2). The phone only had 2gb internal memory, so having a card was basically a necessity. Anyway, I moved app data to the card, but no apps themselves, and the phone would do this on it's own for many apps.

It went through 4 Charges, and then 2 Razr's, and now my S3, and has given me no problems whatsoever (knock on wood). I have only reformatted once or maybe twice, haven't used apps to sd since my Charge days, and don't really play the music on my card anymore what with Pandora and now Google Play All Access. Basically just use it to store all my pictures, TiBu data, and certain development files I want to archive for whatever reason. So it doesn't see heavy use.

I just wanted to say all that to point out that my SanDisk card has held up just fine for more than 2 years. But it is just a class 4, of course higher speeds are gonna be trickier. With that said, I'll likely get a Samsung card when I feel the need to upgrade, but mine still does just fine for my needs, and as long as I stick to 32gb phones I don't know if I'd need more.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] AliceBToklas:
Given the issues I've seen reported with older Sandisk cards (mine is one of the first 64GB) I decided to bite the bullet and have a new Samsung 64GB (why have we not gotten larger yet?) in hand. Now, if VZ would just ship the darn phone I ordered last Weds.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] haroutter:
Any idea if this will be available to purchase in store or is it online only for good? I asked the rep yesterday and he had no clue
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] evltwn72:
I was in a store here in Phx today, and the store associate told me it's not going to be available for in store purchase until 8/15. I have called a couple other stores, of course no one would confirm this. So take it with a grain of salt.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] haroutter:
i guess its either the 16gb or order online then.

those of you that ordered online, does it get charged to your bill (do not want) or can i use a credit card(want)?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] williamweaver:
You can use a credit card. I did.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] haroutter:
use bednger

awesome thanks!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] rushless:
On line only, but you can order in corporate stores and they will ship to your residence. I ordered in store so I could do the 12 month payment plan and keep unlimited data. Due to needed signatures, you can not do the payment plan on line.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] xxxstar:
I can't seem to purchase the S4 32GB online at month-to-month pricing to keep my unlimited data. I can add it to my cart at $699, but then I'm still prompted to pick a new, data-limited plan. What gives?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] haroutter:
Just ordered online and kept my unlimited thanks guys
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] Scoot3r:
You either need to pay the full retail price (guessing that you have tried this), or upgrade a separate line.

Also I find it amusing they would release the 32 after saying they wouldn't. Just went through the trouble of formatting a 64GB card to use on mine. :(

A friend told me they were releasing a milspec version as well. That true?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] evltwn72:
How did you get them to sign you up for the device payment plan? 2 stores here in phx told me they couldn't do that. They claimed they needed the sku from the box to put into the computer. The device payment plan was only available on phones they physically had in the store.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] shuddle13:
Same problem, I wanted to do device payment plan, but they said they couldn't in store. Tried 2 different stores, multiple calls to customer service. No go since it wasn't on hand in store. :(
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] rushless:
I went to a corporate store in Kentucky and the gentlemen was able to set my order up with the twelve month plan and did it all using an iPad. I even signed using the iPad.

They are telling you all wrong. As long as the product is in stock at their direct ship warehouses, they can order it. They call it "D-fill", which I guess means direct order fulfillment. Seems the store staff is apparently not properly trained at the stores you are going to, or are lazy. The product does not have to be just what is in store. If that was true, the store I went to would not have been able to order it for me.

They can order for you with the twelve month program, keep unlimited and deliver to your residence. I ordered yesterday before noon and have delivery confirmation for today. S4 32GB black: $699 plus tax, but paid $200 up front. The minimum up front was $100 (tax and first payment). This means other states will be higher or lower, depending on state tax rates.

Added: My guess is the stores are lazy, since they get no commission and order deliveries are a little more process effort for them than buying a product in store.

As far as VZW customer service, I called them and that is how I found out in the first place, about how to order the 32gb S4 using the 12 month plan.

Note: I tried to order last week, but the device was still technically on preorder, so had to wait until yesterday. Stores can not set devices up on the 12 month plan if still on pre order.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] SinfulRoad:
What I did was login on VerizonWireless, go to my devices, click upgrade, and it gave me the option to upgrade at full price. So I assume that doesn't use up my upgrade and during the transaction it showed I'd keep my current plan and unlimited data. If not I'd just call. Plus the phone should be delivered today, just a shame I won't be able to get it till Friday when I go home.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] rushless:
Should be correct. I was going to order on-line and pay full price, but decided to go to a corporate store (per the CSR's information) and use the 12 month payment plan instead. I can pay off early if I want, but have to go to a corp store to do this. If not paid early, there is $24 in total interest, paid each month at $2, so less if paid earlier.

Sad how some stores appear to be too lazy to go through the effort of ordering (D-fill) for customers and apply the 12 month plan. I guess it depends on the character of the staff. Lazy equals "we can not do that" even though they CAN. The only catches are it must be a corporate store and the device can not be on preorder, and must be in stock at store OR their Verizon warehouse. If ordered "D-fill" from their warehouse, they must ship directly to your residence and someone there to sign for it.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] DarkMenace:
Update to my complaint. Someone from Verizon called me today and after some talking agreed to send me a 32GB Model of this phone for an extra $50 that I paid plus tax and overnight 10:30am shipping. Total came to $66.20.

Now is this thing thing the same as the 16GB model?

1. Is the S4 32GB rootable with the same bootchains?

2. Is the stock restore the same as the 16GB file?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] rushless:
Nobody knows yet. It could have the update already on it, but some are getting theirs today to find out.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] DarkMenace:
If it does have the update I assume you can Odin to the file that's used with the 16GB file the root?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] gadget!:
I received mine this afternoon :D

It is already rooted! woot woot!

After reading about the update I was afriad to turn it on, I would have been very unhappy if I was unable to root.

Hopefully you will all get them without the update.

Let the fun begin!
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] DarkMenace:
So if we can't plug it into the computer, how are we supposed to root if the update starts by using the pc? I want to use this > http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2290798

---------- Post added at 04:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:02 PM ----------

The Verizon CFO who called me insured to me that the 32GB would fit into my otterbox case that I use on my 16GB. Guess I'll have to see. They say it's the same size.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] AliceBToklas:
This is VERY good to hear. Mine should arrive tomorrow and I was going to be crestfallen if it was not rootable.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] gadget!:
As far as the update, I just hit cancel when it started to download and it worked fine.

Size...

It is the exact same phone as the 16gb model but with more storage :D
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] DarkMenace:
So I can use the same Stock Image for the 16GB?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] gadget!:
Not sure what you mean here, you asked about the update.

Are you asking if the Stock rom (presumably a rooted rom) file can be flashed on the 32gb?

I rooted mine, installed TWRP and then restored from a backup I made on my 16gb unit.

I wans't really sure if it would work so I done a full nand of the rooted 32gb first. It worked fine, I now have a 32gb that is basically the same as the 16gb except more storage.

If you let the update happen you will lose root, and from what I have read here you won't be able to get it back.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] DarkMenace:
THE Stock Restore Image for Odin for the 16GB. Will it work on the 32GB?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4] gadget!:
That I don't know, maybe someone else will chime in but if it were me I would wait and see if a stock image for the 32gb is created.

Or until someone that knows more about it than me confirms it.