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Google has lowered the price of the Nexus 4 by $100

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Re: Google has lowered the price of the Nexus 4 by $100

#261

I upgraded to the Nexus 4 after owning a Galaxy Nexus and I have to say I feel mixed about the changes. As an Android device, the N4 is definitely faster and nicer to use. But as a phone, I found two important issues were a step back - the max volume of the earpiece and the strength of the vibration. The latter, in particular, is so weak on the N4 that I usually miss texts and other notifications. Instead I get to be…

Same here. I also feel like the Gnex had a better form factor, and I liked the screen colours better.

If you miss stuff, try using an app that repeats them at an interval, sorry, can't remember the name now.

Re: Google has lowered the price of the Nexus 4 by $100

#262
post #90

If you buy this phone, get a case for it. The thing slides off of pretty much anything, including apparently flat counter tops. Screen replacements are $130 and take 2 weeks. You won't get the awesome feel of the beveled edges, or the nice solid feeling of a thin but reasonably weighted piece of equipment, but definitely get a case lest you watch in horror as your shiny new phone crashes onto your hard tile bathroom…

I got the front & back xtremeguards for mine and have no problem with it slipping. They're not perfect and there may be a better manufacturer, but I didn't want to add bulk to the phone and they were running their 80% off special. http://www.xtremeguard.com/LG-Google-Nexus-4-Screen-Protecto...

Re: Google has lowered the price of the Nexus 4 by $100

#263
post #90

If you buy this phone, get a case for it. The thing slides off of pretty much anything, including apparently flat counter tops. Screen replacements are $130 and take 2 weeks. You won't get the awesome feel of the beveled edges, or the nice solid feeling of a thin but reasonably weighted piece of equipment, but definitely get a case lest you watch in horror as your shiny new phone crashes onto your hard tile bathroom…

Also DONT BUY THE WIRELESS CHARGER. It is a joke, the phone might stick to it the first time you use it, if you're lucky. The only thing keeping the above mentioned slippery phone on the un-necessarily slanted charger is some slick rubber material. The rubber holds dust like a pro, but alas cannot grip the phone. If you don't believe me read Amazon reviews: http://www.amazon.com/Google-Nexus-4-Wireless-Charger/dp/B00…

I completely forgot that this was a feature of the phone. haha

Re: Google has lowered the price of the Nexus 4 by $100

#264
post #181
post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand why "no removable storage" implies that you'd have to use a cloud provider? Why not just use the fixed internal storage?

If you've got a kid, especially a young one, 16GB isn't enough for pictures and video. Not even close. My niece has filled her 64GB iphone many times over with shots of her kid. I'm sure there are tons of other use cases too.

But then what do you want? Isn't there a technical limit to how much local storage a phone can have? Syncing to some external disk seems unavoidable?

Re: Google has lowered the price of the Nexus 4 by $100

#265
post #231

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are so many obvious flaws in that statement, here's two: 1) The assumption that the person who owns the phone owns a computer, rather than borrows someone else's when they need it. Modern phones have hdmi outputs, and work with bluetooth keyboards. It is entirely feasible for the average person to use a high-end phone as their primary computing device. Especially with the carrier subsidies making the up-front c…

I'm not saying a sd slot would not be better, just that you're not that screwed without it and no cloud. So maybe ok, if you don't have a computer, don't buy a Nexus 4. Or buy a computer with the difference of prices between a S4 and a N4.

Or simply have more than 16GB of stuff that you want to have at hand.

Re: Google has lowered the price of the Nexus 4 by $100

#266
post #262
post #90

If you buy this phone, get a case for it. The thing slides off of pretty much anything, including apparently flat counter tops. Screen replacements are $130 and take 2 weeks. You won't get the awesome feel of the beveled edges, or the nice solid feeling of a thin but reasonably weighted piece of equipment, but definitely get a case lest you watch in horror as your shiny new phone crashes onto your hard tile bathroom…

I got the front & back xtremeguards for mine and have no problem with it slipping. They're not perfect and there may be a better manufacturer, but I didn't want to add bulk to the phone and they were running their 80% off special. http://www.xtremeguard.com/LG-Google-Nexus-4-Screen-Protecto...

I picked up the Spigen SGP Steinheil Dual for the same reasons. I actually only use the back protector but it's great. Although, while I haven't had issues with my phone slipping off tables, I don't think I can really attribute that to the protector. I find I can still slide my phone across surfaces as if it were a hockey puck on ice.

http://www.spigen.com/brands/google/google-nexus-4-screen-pr...

Re: Google has lowered the price of the Nexus 4 by $100

#267
I’m now thinking of getting the Nexus 4 as a device to learn Android programming instead of the Nexus 7. Since I’m blind I actually prefer a smaller screen since there’s less blank space in between icons and it’s easier to keep track of where things are. Is it possible to use the Nexus 4 without a cell plan? I assume this would just involve putting in a deactivated sim. Is there any prior experience to guess at how long Google will support both the Nexus 4 and the new Nexus 7 with Android updates? If the Nexus 4 may only get one more update but the Nexus 7 will get 3 that would change my decision.

Re: Google has lowered the price of the Nexus 4 by $100

#268
post #267

I’m now thinking of getting the Nexus 4 as a device to learn Android programming instead of the Nexus 7. Since I’m blind I actually prefer a smaller screen since there’s less blank space in between icons and it’s easier to keep track of where things are. Is it possible to use the Nexus 4 without a cell plan? I assume this would just involve putting in a deactivated sim. Is there any prior experience to guess at how l…

To answer your first question:

You can use a Nexus 4 as a simple wifi device without a sim card at all if you don't want cellular data.

As far as updates go, that is harder to say. I would be shocked if the Nexus 4 doesn't get Key Lime Pie. After that? Who knows... but I'd say the same for the Nexus 7, even the newer one. Key Lime Pie will probably be around for a long while with minor point upgrades much like Jellybean was.

In any case, if this is for development I wouldn't worry about it that much. There are relatively few points where Android diverged enough that it makes a huge difference to developers if the OS they are developing on is the very newest or slightly older.

For example, you can pretty much target Ice Cream Sandwich and above right now and it makes very little difference in terms of how you develop and which APIs you'd use.

And if you have to develop on systems even older than that, the combination of the Android Support Library here:

http://developer.android.com/tools/support-library/index.htm...

And ActionBarSherlock here:

http://actionbarsherlock.com/

do a good job of smoothing this sort of thing out from a developer's point of view even if you're developing on Froyo or Gingerbread era devices.

Re: Google has lowered the price of the Nexus 4 by $100

#269

So when did they start actually have these things in stock? I know a few months ago whenever I'd check they were unavailable. With this price reduction, I guess Apple should cancel their 5S/5C event, no need since the phones will flop due to everyone with their shiny Nexus 4's.

they've been in-stock everywhere the play store sells them since early February.

Re: Google has lowered the price of the Nexus 4 by $100

#270
post #267

I’m now thinking of getting the Nexus 4 as a device to learn Android programming instead of the Nexus 7. Since I’m blind I actually prefer a smaller screen since there’s less blank space in between icons and it’s easier to keep track of where things are. Is it possible to use the Nexus 4 without a cell plan? I assume this would just involve putting in a deactivated sim. Is there any prior experience to guess at how l…

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