Samsung Galaxy S II

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Discussion

ZesPak

Original Poster:

24,439 posts

197 months

Tuesday 10th April 2012
quotequote all
Official ICS update is running now on Kies biggrin

My firmware is the LUX version apparently (though I bought the phone in Belgium, maybe there is no BE-specific firmware).


Very exited!!

Tbh my SGS2 has been brilliant over the entire line. None of the niggles I read about, so ICS can't be that much better. If it's less stable/worse on the battery, I'll revert to the old firmware.

ZesPak

Original Poster:

24,439 posts

197 months

Tuesday 10th April 2012
quotequote all
ATM said:
How do I get this then?
I just plugged it in, opened "kies" and pressed "yes" a couple of times.

It's an automatic update but it's done through Kies, not OTA.

ZesPak

Original Poster:

24,439 posts

197 months

Tuesday 10th April 2012
quotequote all
ATM said:
OK I dont use Kies ever. I just loaded it up on my Mac and plugged in my phone. No Yes options appeared. It tells me the phone's firmware is up to date.
It also says the region for your Firmware, mine is (LUX), which would indicate that everybody with a LUX region could get the update.

I never used Kies before, but never needed it. I hate it even more than I hate iTunes.

ZesPak

Original Poster:

24,439 posts

197 months

Tuesday 10th April 2012
quotequote all
MURRAY007 said:
laugh
Meh, the upside is I don't need it to load movies/music on my phone, or make a backup of my phone.

I already uninstalled it again, update was done smile.

ZesPak

Original Poster:

24,439 posts

197 months

Wednesday 11th April 2012
quotequote all
rasto said:
I'm beginning to regret upgrading to ICS now, it hasn't added enough to the phone (access to Chrome was the only reason I did it) and has made the phone more unstable, slightly more laggy and the battery usage is worse. Apparently the battery problem has been fixed in 4.0.4 but I'm guessing it will take a while for this to make its way through the various QA departments frown
Hmm just updated yesterday and not much has changed indeed. I do love the new multitask menu (hold "home" button).
Overall it's just as "snappie" as 2.3 on my phone, if not faster. The browser is better, the "patern to unlock" screen is better and that's about all I found.

Oh also, I think it's because of the fonts but I'm not sure, I get the feeling the phone has become "bigger", making even better use of the screen real estate.

I'll update on the battery later today, by mid-day I usually know what I should have got left.

ZesPak

Original Poster:

24,439 posts

197 months

Wednesday 11th April 2012
quotequote all
LukeSi said:
Hmm I have discovered an issue with ICS and the bluetooth in the Panda. It detects it and allows me to enter a pin however it never stops pairing.
Official update?

I've yet to try it, was in the Alfa yesterday but didn't check if bluetooth was paired correctly.

ZesPak

Original Poster:

24,439 posts

197 months

Wednesday 11th April 2012
quotequote all
I've been using it since yesterday, charged this night, still on 80% now, which is quite good for my usage (lots of mails, browsing).
So far I'm very pleased, but it's only the first day of course.

ZesPak

Original Poster:

24,439 posts

197 months

Thursday 19th April 2012
quotequote all
Richyvrlimited said:
Firstly CM9 has made my phone actually usable over the stock Samsung effort,...
Really?

I don't get this actually, how was the stock Samsung "effort" unusable?

I consider myself a "power user", and had a range of smartphones (WM6.5, BB, iPhone, two Android handsets,...), and the SGS2 "stock" has been the best by far. Now I can understand that it could be improved upon, but if it was unusable stock, you probably had a faulty handset and should take it back.

ZesPak

Original Poster:

24,439 posts

197 months

Friday 20th April 2012
quotequote all
Just ordered 3 gadgets online:

  • Official 2000Mha battery kit
  • Dual dock for charging + charging of extra battery
  • MHL -> HDMI cable smile
Can't wait to have a go, esp with the last one!

ZesPak

Original Poster:

24,439 posts

197 months

Friday 20th April 2012
quotequote all
buggalugs said:
Managed to leave mine out in the rain & hail last night frown

Worked for about an hour with water dripping out the bottom of it then the screen died cry

On taking it apart there was a weird rubber membrane thing behind the screen which was soaking wet, I think it kind of 'wicked' all the water in.

New Samsung screen was £100 fitted so not the end of the world, costly mistake for a seconds forgetfulness!
Tbh if you have this again: remove the battery and put everything ('cept the battery) on top of a radiator, and leave it there for a couple of days.

chances are it's fine.

ZesPak

Original Poster:

24,439 posts

197 months

Monday 23rd April 2012
quotequote all
im said:
Looking for some help please chaps...

I upgraded to ICS at the weekend and then installed some Live Wallpapers and program that allows you to download hundreds of static wallpapers called Zedge. Now I'm not saying that either of these are to blame but all of a sudden I'm getting a little '+' icon showing in my notifications bar which upon investigation is an advert. This is happening frequently now. How can I stop this happening? I know that uninstalling Zedge might be the first port of call but if that doesn't cure this what is the next action I can take?

Any suggestions are gratefully received.

Cheers.
Uninstall Zedge and see if the next action is actually required. :P

ZesPak

Original Poster:

24,439 posts

197 months

Monday 23rd April 2012
quotequote all
im said:
I'll save you some time...Its the font.
Check the calendar & gmail app, and keep the home button pressed for 2 seconds.

Also, mine is doing much better on the battery front. I also like the fact that the lowest volume isn't "vibrate" anymore, it's completely mute, so not even vibrate. So you go:
  1. Mute
  2. Vibrate
  3. low
  4. higher
  5. ....

ZesPak

Original Poster:

24,439 posts

197 months

Monday 4th June 2012
quotequote all
Just installed the NOVA Launcher, my first launcher I installed and I must say I'm impressed, looks about 50x as nice as the default touchwiz. My guess is that Samsung downplays the ICS interface so the phone feels more like the lower end ones in terms of interface, very odd move imho.
Loving the launcher so far, no problems with widgets either, all of mine work.

ZesPak

Original Poster:

24,439 posts

197 months

Wednesday 27th June 2012
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[redacted]

ZesPak

Original Poster:

24,439 posts

197 months

Wednesday 27th June 2012
quotequote all
[redacted]

ZesPak

Original Poster:

24,439 posts

197 months

Wednesday 27th June 2012
quotequote all
[redacted]

ZesPak

Original Poster:

24,439 posts

197 months

Thursday 28th June 2012
quotequote all
Killboy said:
Not sure what the rules are regarding this, so please feel free to educate me if its out of line:

I've got a month old S2 (insurance claim replaced my old one), and wanting to switch phones. What is a fair price to ask, and would anyone want to make an offer before it goes to eBay or something?
Black? Sim free? It should fetch around £ 300. If you ask less than that it'll be gone sooner of course.

ZesPak

Original Poster:

24,439 posts

197 months

Thursday 28th June 2012
quotequote all
Killboy said:
Black, but not with my SIM of course. Considering a SIM is a tenner, I'll throw one in if required.

Thanks. Was hoping for around 300.
sorry, I ment "sim lock free" as in -> not tied to any particular operator.

ZesPak

Original Poster:

24,439 posts

197 months

Thursday 28th June 2012
quotequote all
Killboy said:
Aaah, I think it may be tied to O2. Aren't they easy to unlock?
Could be, not exactly up-to-speed on that, I always buy my phones simlockfree.

ZesPak

Original Poster:

24,439 posts

197 months

Thursday 28th June 2012
quotequote all
[redacted]