so I got myself a Samsung Galaxy Note (former iOS user)

[techead]

and I honestly dont know where to start.

I was thinking of doing some kind of "restore" so I can get the phone to its original factory state. You know, to clean all the apps off, installed crap etc etc. I guess its just like a PC and a fresh install would do it some good?

Thoughts on this? then I guess I can dive into the rest...

 

[memphis32]

Where did you get your Note from...?

 

[PsyWulf]

If you got a non-stock one from someone else go to Settings -> Privacy Settings -> Factory Data Reset to wipe it clean,then start afresh

 

[memphis32]

Be careful if you on Android 4.0.3 already(If you got it from someone else), you might end up with an expensive door stopper. If you still on Android 2.3.6, then feel free to wipe data...

 

[w1z4rd]

Be careful if you on Android 4.0.3 already(If you got it from someone else), you might end up with an expensive door stopper. If you still on Android 2.3.6, then feel free to wipe data...

This post makes no sense

 

[memphis32]

This post makes no sense

Let's put it English then.... If one has just gotten a brand new GNote from a retail outlet, it will be running Android 2.3.6 firmware. If one get's it secondhand, from someone else, chances are that it could already be running the latest Android 4.0.3. Now, it has come to light that there is a rather serious bug in the Android 4.0.3 firmware, that will brick the phone(kill the phone) should the user perform a reset/factory wipe of the phone. This bug is not present on Android 2.3.6 firmware. It is said that should your phone be "bricked", the only way to fix it is to send it to Samsung service center near you. If you already have Android 4.0.3 on the device, chances are your warranty will be void as this firmware is not released for us yet... And if you have Android 4 on your phone, it possibly means your custom binary counter has increased, and that is reason enough for Samsung to void the warranty.....

Just a friendly warning though, most users won't even need to wipe data for anything, but the dangers are there, and there are different scenarios that will cause the firmware to issue the command in the phone that will brick the phone... If you not worried about that, then flash away...

 

[techead]

Where did you get your Note from...?

straight swap for my iPhone 4 from a user on Gumtree

 

[techead]

and its running 2.3.6

the oke didnt seem to know much about software and that kind of thing

 

[memphis32]

Then you're safe my friend.... Just plug the phone in to Kies software on your pc to check if it's the LA4 firmware, if not it will download. That's the latest available for SA... I'm trying to get an answer from the service providers as to the release of ICS, but they not getting back to me....

 

[Spizz]

I got a second hand one last week also. I just did a factory reset, entered my gmail account details when it rebooted and it synced across all the stuff from my email account and the apps I was running on my S2 were all there ready to download when I started the Play store app..

I don't know if I'm being totally obvious here, but Android kinda centres around your gmail account. So if you have one already or make a new account now, you can then use that account on the Google Play store and transport your setting across from one device to another quite easily as you chang phones in the future.

 

[w1z4rd]

Let's put it English then.... If one has just gotten a brand new GNote from a retail outlet, it will be running Android 2.3.6 firmware. If one get's it secondhand, from someone else, chances are that it could already be running the latest Android 4.0.3. Now, it has come to light that there is a rather serious bug in the Android 4.0.3 firmware, that will brick the phone(kill the phone) should the user perform a reset/factory wipe of the phone. This bug is not present on Android 2.3.6 firmware. It is said that should your phone be "bricked", the only way to fix it is to send it to Samsung service center near you. If you already have Android 4.0.3 on the device, chances are your warranty will be void as this firmware is not released for us yet... And if you have Android 4 on your phone, it possibly means your custom binary counter has increased, and that is reason enough for Samsung to void the warranty.....

Just a friendly warning though, most users won't even need to wipe data for anything, but the dangers are there, and there are different scenarios that will cause the firmware to issue the command in the phone that will brick the phone... If you not worried about that, then flash away...

Strange, I update an android from 2.3.x to ICS and reset it with no problems, so I have not experienced this.

 

[techead]

Then you're safe my friend.... Just plug the phone in to Kies software on your pc to check if it's the LA4 firmware, if not it will download. That's the latest available for SA... I'm trying to get an answer from the service providers as to the release of ICS, but they not getting back to me....

Kies software the samsung software?

 

[memphis32]

That's one thing I love about Android. I use Gmail as my main email service, so for me, it's like second nature. You can use goolgle for many things, email, docs, music, social networking, etc... Changing phones on Android is a 5minute process, it just needs to sync your contacts and email to the newer phone, and your set to go... Getting your apps is also easy, log on to the play store, and the compatible apps for the new phone is all there, you just need to download them....

 

[memphis32]

Strange, I update an android from 2.3.x to ICS and reset it with no problems, so I have not experienced this.

The brick process only happens under certain conditions. Also, with certain ROMs, using certain kernals. There have been many users that can wipe data at any time, but it just takes that one moment with a certain firmware version that will kill the phone. For the average user, it might not be applicable to do a factory reset, but for those that like to tinker and flash roms, it can cause reason to be concerned. That said, going from 2.3.6 to ICS isn't the issue, as it's not which rom/firmware you are flashing to, but which rom/firmware you are flashing from. GB(2.3.6) is regarded as safe, and the dev's on XDA suggest to first flash a GB rom before flashing a new ICS rom. There are many posts on the net about the brick bug in the firmware, so it is there. You might be one of the lucky ones that have the fw rev0x25 chip, which is the safe chip, whereas fw rev0x19 is the suspect one....

 

[memphis32]

Kies software the samsung software?

Correct yes. As much as everybody hates Kies, it does serve a purpose. Once you feel more comfortable with Android and the way it work, and you feel you've done enough research, then you can dwell into the world of flashing software, mods and so on...

 

[FreeStanler]

Welcome to Android, and probably the best Android phone, depending on your tastes. Some say the bigger screen outweighs the benefits that eg. the Galaxy S3 brings. It is much better than an iPhone!

 

[techead]

ok so Im up and running... kinda...

I have managed to get the following up and running, but not too happy about one or two things.

using the gmail app for sync mail. only sync mail not any other crap.

syncing calendar from outlook exchange, but its not giving me the option to NOT sync mail. Which is kinda retarded.

I would like to move my GMAIL account to the NORMAL APP coz I think the gmail one looks a bit kaka.

Im trying to figure out how to delete this gmail account but no luck yet...

 

[Synaesthesia]

With Android your Google account is central to the phone, and once in you can't take it out, it's used for the marketplace and all. Actually the regular Mail app isn't nearly as good as the GMail app, especially in Android 4, in my opinion.