Just ordered the LG Optimus 3D!

[weylander]

Hello all!

Just ordered my first smartphone, the LG Optimus 3D!:)

I'm pretty excited by it as I've never used a smartphone before and the 3D sounds neat. After looking on the net a bit though, it doesn't appear to be very popular though and the HTC Evo 3D seems to outperform it, and now I'm wondering if I accepted the phone too quickly and should have done some research first. I have a low voice only plan and the phones I get offered for renewal are usually pretty crappy (which normally is fine by me, since they are free) but when they offered this one I jumped on it, afraid that they made a mistake and would take the offer back (that has happened before). :(

The review on mobilesyrup is pretty good though and since I've never had a smart phone I don't think I would be too disappointed as I don't have anything to compare it to. :cool:

Does anyone else have the Optimus 3D and since I'm a newbie any suggestions on where I can go to learn more about it? LG's official site is kinda lite on info.

Thanks in advance for any advice!:D

[MrCrowley]

Hello all!

Just ordered my first smartphone, the LG Optimus 3D!:)

I'm pretty excited by it as I've never used a smartphone before and the 3D sounds neat. After looking on the net a bit though, it doesn't appear to be very popular though and the HTC Evo 3D seems to outperform it, and now I'm wondering if I accepted the phone too quickly and should have done some research first. I have a low voice only plan and the phones I get offered for renewal are usually pretty crappy (which normally is fine by me, since they are free) but when they offered this one I jumped on it, afraid that they made a mistake and would take the offer back (that has happened before). :(

The review on mobilesyrup is pretty good though and since I've never had a smart phone I don't think I would be too disappointed as I don't have anything to compare it to. :cool:

Does anyone else have the Optimus 3D and since I'm a newbie any suggestions on where I can go to learn more about it? LG's official site is kinda lite on info.

Thanks in advance for any advice!:D

First off welcome to the world of Android. Second, this being your first smart phone I think it will outperform your expectations. Is this the best phone on the market? NO but it is still a nice choice for a phone.....there is a lot worse out there. You can use this phone to get a feel for what you like and dislike about smart phones going forward. You can try a site called xda, just google it and you'll find it. I am not overly familiar with this phone it may or may not have developer support (root, custom roms and kernels etc). I can say that LG has a very poor track record for releasing updates, so if this phone has developer support I would learn how to root so you can use custom roms and kernels rather than waiting for LG to release updates. I hope you enjoy the phone.

To help save the battery, I keep my GPS off unless I need it. I also turn off my wifi when not in range (searching for a wifi signal wastes lots of battery), I have my phones set to use Wifi before my mobile data (saves on data costs or in my case keeps me under the 5GB cap). When adding a new app or doing updates to apps, use wifi as it is generally faster and again saves data costs.

Some apps I really enjoy are, juice defender ultimate, sound hound, tune in radio, various camera apps (lots of freebies to try out), beautiful widgets and gas buddy. Most apps have a free scaled down version that you can try before you buy. I would also make an account with Google if you don't have one, you will need one for the market place. Take some time to read some reviews on the app before you try even the free version. You can access the market on your pc, once you link your google account to your phone they can be linked so if you like an app that you are looking at on the computer you can push the download to your phone (assuming you have wifi setup on your phone).

Widgets and apps are different. Biggest difference is a widget will continue to run and update even if the screen is off, an app needs to be tapped to start. Example beautiful widgets is a very nice weather widget, it will update the weather even with the screen off so that I always have the current weather (time between updates can be changed in the user settings).

I learned how to use my first smartphone through trial and error, and time spent using the device, you will become more comfortable with it over time.

[weylander]

Thank you very much for the kind advice and response!

I just took a quick look at the xda site and it looks very... comprehensive. I'm sure if I start reading some more I'll start to understand what the whole developer support things means though.

I really appreciate what you said about the gps, wifi, battery and data saving though. I only have 100 mbs of data and was concerned about going over my limit without realizing it as I intend to use wifi primarily. I don't plan on downloading a lot of apps (which I understand are like programs on my PC), as I'm afraid of overloading my phone or slowing it down with bloatware and then I won't know how to fix it (I'm not very technical) which kinda leads me to a question if you don't mind.

When you say that LG is slow on updates, do mobile phones really need a lot of updates to run? Windows has tons of security and bug updates all the time, are smartphones vulnerable or buggy in a similar way? I've never updated a cell phone before so I wasn't sure.

[MrCrowley]

Thank you very much for the kind advice and response!

I just took a quick look at the xda site and it looks very... comprehensive. I'm sure if I start reading some more I'll start to understand what the whole developer support things means though.

I really appreciate what you said about the gps, wifi, battery and data saving though. I only have 100 mbs of data and was concerned about going over my limit without realizing it as I intend to use wifi primarily. I don't plan on downloading a lot of apps (which I understand are like programs on my PC), as I'm afraid of overloading my phone or slowing it down with bloatware and then I won't know how to fix it (I'm not very technical) which kinda leads me to a question if you don't mind.

When you say that LG is slow on updates, do mobile phones really need a lot of updates to run? Windows has tons of security and bug updates all the time, are smartphones vulnerable or buggy in a similar way? I've never updated a cell phone before so I wasn't sure.

First off, sorry for missing this question that you asked 10 days ago.

Do mobile phones need a lot of updates to run? No, they don't, but updates usually mean performance improvements and who doesn't want improvements? Every OS has it's flaws and on the flip side they all have their strengths. I wouldn't consider them vulnerable or buggy per say but like everything else there is always room for improvement. Updating a phone OS is fairly easy to do. Your provider should have a link to OS updates, some have software to install on your PC or MAC and the phone can be updated via that software (as well as many other functions). Depending on the phone, manufacturer and type of update it may be done right from the phone via over the air update.

I have over 200 apps on my tablet and about 125 or so of those are on my phones, I haven't noticed any slow downs except when restarting the phone. Reading reviews of apps will help you to determine whether an app is worth trying and it will show you if the developer of the app can be trusted. Apps with hundreds of thousands into the millions of downloads with a good rating (out of 5) are usually safe bets. I usually search the market with my PC and then push the app to my tablet or phone. I find the Android Market on the PC more user friendly, while the phone and tablet versions lack features I enjoy using to help make choices.

[weylander]

Thanks again for the response MrCrowley! I really appreciate it.

So phone updates sound pretty good. I guess I was worried that just as I would be getting used to how the phone worked an update would screw it up somehow (compatibility with stuff) or change things so much that it might stop doing something I like in favor of something different.

I still haven't gotten my phone yet (it's still in the mail somewhere), but it sounds like I can download apps onto my pc and then transfer them to the phone from there? Cool.

[weylander]

Just got my phone! So the instructions included say I should insert the sim card and battery and fully charge the phone before it's first use, but rogers says I should charge the phone before I put my sim in otherwise I won't have any service till it's done- which make sense.

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but can I charge the phone with just the battery and without the sim card?

[warrior1973]

ive had mine for about a week now and im very happy with it.