Author Topic: Planning on buying a Samsung Galaxy Note 3  (Read 3432 times)

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Offline lkj

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Planning on buying a Samsung Galaxy Note 3
« on: December 23, 2013, 03:21:52 pm »
My old phone (iphone 3gs) has many problems so I'm looking for a new phone. It mustn't be from Apple and should have a big screen so that it's comfortable to code on it. The battery life should also be not too bad. I was thinking about the Note 2 because of its big screen and good reviews, and now about its successor. The mainstream public seems to like the Note 3 very much, but I also heard two bad things about it. First, the region lock. I don't care about it myself, but it's a bit of a unfriendly move like Apple would do. And second, I read that you could break it by rooting because of some hardware protection, which would be a reason for me not to buy it.

So yeah, would you recommend buying it?

Offline Juju

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Re: Planning on buying a Samsung Galaxy Note 3
« Reply #1 on: December 23, 2013, 03:30:09 pm »
Personally, I have a Galaxy Note 1 and my mom has the 2 and they both pretty good, although I didn't found yet how to root mine.

The region lock sounds kinda weird, but after a little search I see they want to restrict people who buys their phones in remote locations like China, which is kinda understandable. You shouldn't care about it if you buy your Note if you buy it in stores, in the same country you are. And anyway, pretty sure someone will find a way to desactivate the lock with a little rooting.

Other than this, phones in the Galaxy Note line are very recommandable for someone who wants a phone with a big screen (there's even a pen included that is compatible with the Microsoft Surface), unless Samsung somehow messes up badly.
« Last Edit: December 23, 2013, 03:32:20 pm by Juju »

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Offline Keoni29

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Re: Planning on buying a Samsung Galaxy Note 3
« Reply #2 on: December 23, 2013, 04:23:28 pm »
Do you want physical keys?
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Offline lkj

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Re: Planning on buying a Samsung Galaxy Note 3
« Reply #3 on: December 23, 2013, 06:34:26 pm »
The region lock sounds kinda weird, but after a little search I see they want to restrict people who buys their phones in remote locations like China, which is kinda understandable. You shouldn't care about it if you buy your Note if you buy it in stores, in the same country you are. And anyway, pretty sure someone will find a way to desactivate the lock with a little rooting.
It seems the lock was accidentally also a problem for some people who travelled, but yeah, I don't really care about it.

Do you want physical keys?
No, I don't think small physical keys would be better for me than a touchscreen keyboard.

Offline Hayleia

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Re: Planning on buying a Samsung Galaxy Note 3
« Reply #4 on: December 24, 2013, 02:48:02 am »
I have a Note 3 myself. I was worried about the region lock too, but it seems like the phone is only locked when first using it. I mean that you can't power it on for the first time with a SIM that doesn't come from the same country. But once unlocked, you can swap SIMs as you wish. You can check that on the internet, but that's what I remember.

And if you want "the" Note 3, well you still have the SnapDragon/Exynos choice. You have two versions of the Note 3, one having a 4-core and 4G, the second one having a 8-core and no 4G. But the 8-core has a lowered frequence and the processor is quite new, so you don't gain much. I have the 4G version (and GTA San Andreas still runs ! :P).

Other than that, it depends on what you want to do with your phone. If you want to play games (like GTA San Andreas :P), take the latest one but if you mostly want a phone for "phone usage" (but with a big touchscreen), take the Note 1 and save money :)



Now about rooting. It is true that there is a new "protection" (KNOX), but you have a rooting method (Root De la Vega) that doesn't increase the KNOX counter, so you don't have to worry about that. Also, the only thing that counter does is saying "you messed up with software", but if it's the hardware that fails, the warranty still has value (at least in France). Check on the internet which versions that rooting method supports before buying ;)
And I never used any warranty on anything so I just didn't care and rooted my phone as soon as I got it, incrementing that flag once and for all :P
The other thing that rooting without caring kills are the OTA updates. Since I did that, they are no longer proposed to me (but I don't care, I can find them on the internet). I don't know if the Root De la Vega solves that, you should see on the internet too :)

Anyway, I never regretted anything with that phone :)
« Last Edit: December 24, 2013, 02:52:21 am by Hayleia »
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Offline DJ Omnimaga

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Re: Planning on buying a Samsung Galaxy Note 3
« Reply #5 on: December 24, 2013, 03:18:37 am »
Just keep in mind that on such large phone, if you decide to run complex games or something, they can eat a lot of batteries and you might also want to keep syncing turned off when not using it, same for wi-fi, 3G, etc. Juju's mom sometimes played games on her phone and the battery was depleted in less than an hour or so.

I wouldn't mind such phone if it wasn't for the fact that it can't fit into my pockets and that it's expensive. My current one is very slow.
« Last Edit: December 24, 2013, 03:18:53 am by DJ Omnimaga »

Offline Juju

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Re: Planning on buying a Samsung Galaxy Note 3
« Reply #6 on: December 24, 2013, 03:27:04 am »
Well, if a calc fits in your pocket, a Galaxy Note should fit. Unless you have small pockets.

If you're lucky enough, you can find a Note for $0 with a 2- or 3-year contract at your favorite provider. Otherwise, yes it can be pretty expensive.

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Offline lkj

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Re: Planning on buying a Samsung Galaxy Note 3
« Reply #7 on: December 24, 2013, 05:29:39 am »
And if you want "the" Note 3, well you still have the SnapDragon/Exynos choice. You have two versions of the Note 3, one having a 4-core and 4G, the second one having a 8-core and no 4G. But the 8-core has a lowered frequence and the processor is quite new, so you don't gain much. I have the 4G version (and GTA San Andreas still runs ! :P).
I'll probably also take the 4G version.

Quote
Other than that, it depends on what you want to do with your phone. If you want to play games (like GTA San Andreas :P), take the latest one but if you mostly want a phone for "phone usage" (but with a big touchscreen), take the Note 1 and save money :)
Playing games isn't that important for me, but the browser should run fast. And I will use it as a substitute for a computer for the next 3 months.

Quote
Now about rooting. It is true that there is a new "protection" (KNOX), but you have a rooting method (Root De la Vega) that doesn't increase the KNOX counter, so you don't have to worry about that. Also, the only thing that counter does is saying "you messed up with software", but if it's the hardware that fails, the warranty still has value (at least in France). Check on the internet which versions that rooting method supports before buying ;)
And I never used any warranty on anything so I just didn't care and rooted my phone as soon as I got it, incrementing that flag once and for all :P
The other thing that rooting without caring kills are the OTA updates. Since I did that, they are no longer proposed to me (but I don't care, I can find them on the internet). I don't know if the Root De la Vega solves that, you should see on the internet too :)
Ok, sounds good.

If you're lucky enough, you can find a Note for $0 with a 2- or 3-year contract at your favorite provider. Otherwise, yes it can be pretty expensive.
Unfortunately there aren't any "cheap" (<$80/month...) $0-contracts anymore over here. At least it's only a bit more than half as expensive as my old phone.

Just keep in mind that on such large phone, if you decide to run complex games or something, they can eat a lot of batteries and you might also want to keep syncing turned off when not using it, same for wi-fi, 3G, etc. Juju's mom sometimes played games on her phone and the battery was depleted in less than an hour or so.
I hope the battery of the Note 3 is a bit better than one hour.

Offline Hayleia

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Re: Planning on buying a Samsung Galaxy Note 3
« Reply #8 on: December 24, 2013, 08:51:59 am »
I hope the battery of the Note 3 is a bit better than one hour.
This depends on your usage of the phone.
  • it once lasted two days when I just had it turned on in my pocket in airplane mode
  • it once lasted one day when I just had it turned on in my pocket in airplane mode, but with some stupid apps I installed that were running in the background
  • it once lasted <i don't know how many exactly, but not a number higher than 4> hours when I was playing games.
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