Re: Burning pixels
By: poindexter FORTRAN to All on Sun Sep 01 2024 09:55 am

I picked up a Pixel 8a a few weeks ago, wanted something newer with supposedly one of the better cameras in the Android 'verse. I compared
the two and, while shooting with gcam on both devices couldn't see $400 worth of difference between the two. As much as I thought I wanted a
smaller phone, I missed the larger screen of my moto. I returned it
after a week.

I might be a laser-focused kind of guy, but IMO the reason for picking a Pixel is because you can run GrapheneOS on it... If I was a camera hardcore and wanted a good camera I would just pick a good camera myself.


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Arelor wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

I might be a laser-focused kind of guy, but IMO the reason for picking
a Pixel is because you can run GrapheneOS on it... If I was a camera hardcore and wanted a good camera I would just pick a good camera
myself.

I ran rooted LineageOS for a time and loved it. I'm a photographer and
have a ton of cameras, but recently the in-phone tweaking has resulted
in better pictures coming out of a phone than a slightly older camera.

I do miss having a viewfinder, though. I like being able to close off
the scene and focus on composition.



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On 9/6/24 3:24 AM, Arelor wrote:

I might be a laser-focused kind of guy, but IMO the reason for picking a Pixel is because you can run GrapheneOS on

Yup. Best thing you can do if you own a Pixel is load GrapheneOS. If you
have another android device, see if you can load a AOSP clean image
without any bloat or google-ware.

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Re: Re: Burning pixels
By: zharvek to All on Fri Sep 06 2024 11:27 am

Yup. Best thing you can do if you own a Pixel is load GrapheneOS. If you have another android device, see if you can load a AOSP clean image
without any bloat or google-ware.

The issue I find with alternative ROMS is they rarely support budget smartphones right, which is what I used to run most of the time and what a lot of people uses. I used to say you are always going to be frustrated with your smartphone, so buy a cheapo and feel frustrated without breaking bank.

I find GrapheneOS to be the only mobile Operating System that isn't frustrating, but it is not something you can slap on some random old piece of junk you have around in order to try it. Running it is a deliberate choice that requires you to purchase specific hardware. I understand the reasons, but it is still a bummer.




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Hi Arelor,
In a message to Zharvek you wrote:

what a lot of people uses. I used to say you are always going to be frustrated with your smartphone, so buy a cheapo and feel frustrated without breaking bank.

A-Men. These phones are just a pain and a crutch anyway, I would
love to go back to a world where they were not needed.

I normally use a 2020 iPhoneSE. Works fine, runs all the apps etc.
But there is a bug in the way the hotspot works on iOs that makes me
frustrated when I'm in the woods and want to connect my laptop to the
world. I solved the issue by buying a $70 andriod 11 flip phone.
(Cat S22 Flip). This thing is great for running as a hotspot. But using
it for anything else is an excersize in frustration. I LOVE IT! Forces me
to "disconnect" as much as I want to.

piece of junk you have around in order to try it. Running it is a deliberate choice that requires you to purchase specific hardware. I understand the reasons, but it is still a bummer.

That is a choice. I looked up the price of a new pixel, wooooo they
make Apple look cheap. ;)

Shawn


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Arelor wrote to zharvek <=-

The issue I find with alternative ROMS is they rarely support budget smartphones right, which is what I used to run most of the time and
what a lot of people uses. I used to say you are always going to be frustrated with your smartphone, so buy a cheapo and feel frustrated without breaking bank.

LineageOS had good support - they built ROMs for my Samsung SIII for
*years* after the vendors stopped supporting it. The only reason they
stopped was that their build Samsung broke, and they asked for a
donation to continue. I don't know if they ever received one, I'd moved
on by that point.

It depends on what they have to build on - unless you have a Pixel.




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On 09/09/2024 01:04 poindexter FORTRAN said...

LineageOS had good support - they built ROMs for my Samsung SIII for *years* after the vendors stopped supporting it. The only reason they stopped was that their build Samsung broke, and they asked for a donation to continue. I don't know if they ever received one, I'd moved on by that point.

I use LineageOS on my OnePlus 6T and love it, they're still supporting it which is great, I don't know how long for now tho. I've had LineageOS on it since it was two years old, much prefer it over the stock rom.


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Re: Re: Burning pixels
By: Tiny to Arelor on Mon Sep 09 2024 06:22 am

That is a choice. I looked up the price of a new pixel, wooooo they
make Apple look cheap. ;)

Yeah, the prices for new flagship phones are retarded. I don't think such tags are justifiable for general users at all.

The Pixel I have wasn't a last generation model when I bought it, so it wasn't crazily priced. If you buy a flagship phone from a generation ago you may get an ok deal, specially because with a custom ROM you may get quite a long lifespan out of it. There is no way on Earth I am getting a flagship phone of a current generation.


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Re: Re: Burning pixels
By: poindexter FORTRAN to Arelor on Mon Sep 09 2024 09:04 am

LineageOS had good support - they built ROMs for my Samsung SIII for
*years* after the vendors stopped supporting it. The only reason they
stopped was that their build Samsung broke, and they asked for a
donation to continue. I don't know if they ever received one, I'd moved
on by that point.

I used a Galaxy S2 so much past its expiration date with LineageOS. It was serviceable, but not that great. My experience, though, is that ROMs are developed and tested for models the developers have, and developers usually have either high-end systems or general popular systems. If you have a generic LG entry smartphone then you will have to do the porting, most likely.


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Arelor wrote to Tiny <=-

Yeah, the prices for new flagship phones are retarded. I don't think
such tags are justifiable for general users at all.

While not a flagship phone, I bought a Pixel 8a earlier this summer. I
wasn't overly impressed with the camera, and while it was faster than
the Moto, It wasn't worth the extra price to me.

My Moto was $120 from the provider, and a little over half the price of
the Pixel if memory serves.

What I *would* like is the broad support for third-party OSes and 7 years
of Android updates that you get with Pixel phones.



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Re: Re: Burning pixels
By: poindexter FORTRAN to Arelor on Tue Sep 10 2024 07:02 am

While not a flagship phone, I bought a Pixel 8a earlier this summer. I wasn't overly impressed with the camera, and while it was faster than
the Moto, It wasn't worth the extra price to me.

I certainly feel smartphone cameras are not worth the premium prices people is paying. In fact I am amused because so much smartphone marketing is focused on camera quality. You would think they are selling a professional camera to you instead of a smartphone.

This gets a bit ridiculous because most people does not need a pro camera and could not take advantage of one if they had it. What so many consumers are doing is purchasing a phone because of the camera marketing and then using that camera to take bad pictures of their cupcake and uploading them to social media.

Dunno, if somebody is going to do that he may as well get the cheaper Motorola, because a bad picture of your cupcake is as useful as a good picture of your cupcake.


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Hi Arelor,
In a message to Poindexter Fortran you wrote:

Dunno, if somebody is going to do that he may as well get the cheaper Motorola, because a bad picture of your cupcake is as useful as a good picture of your cupcake.

Andrea has a Motorola and she loves it, big screen, long battery life,
camera is more then "fine" for the pics she takes. My iPhone was never
top of the line and I haven't bought top o' the line since PalmOS devices.

Shawn


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Re: Re: Burning pixels
By: Arelor to poindexter FORTRAN on Wed Sep 11 2024 04:11 am

I certainly feel smartphone cameras are not worth the premium prices people are paying. In fact I am amused because so much smartphone marketing is focused on camera quality. You would think they are selling a professional camera to you instead of a smartphone.

I've had the same thought, and have said basically the same thing, and there are usually people who argue that a phone these days is more than just a phone, and that people actually use the 'phone' feature a lot less than they used to.

Nightfox
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Re: Re: Burning pixels
By: Nightfox to Arelor on Wed Sep 11 2024 09:50 am

I've had the same thought, and have said basically the same thing, and there are usually people who argue that a phone these days is more than just a phone, and that people actually use the 'phone' feature a lot less than they used to.

Sure, but normies who don't use the phone as a phone mainly use it as portable social media instead.

Today I went back from office in an intercity bus. People was glued to their smartphones. I looked around at what people was doing with them and it was all stuff such as watching cat videos...

...or texting...

...or listening to music...

...or browsing NIST for vulnerabilities that might apply to an IT product (yeah, that is me)...

A single person took a picture at the beautiful sunset, actually.

None of these activities requires a 700 bucks phone, unless you want an awesome sunset picture you are willing to pay hundreds of dollar for. I used to do all that kind of stuff with a 100 bucks entry phone online reviews pissed on.

I think the only person I know in person who had an actual reason to buy a brutal flagship phone (out of business cases) is a friend of mine who is a sports addict. He bought that particular phone because of the screen quality, because when he isn't working or videogaming he is always watching sports online. At home he uses his TV set but outside he uses his smartphone. He gets such as mileage out of it that his ussage hours/price ratio is ridiculous. Plus he is rolling in money anyway so I don't blame him for overspending on a single thing.


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Hi Poindexter,
On <Sun, 21 Sep 24>, you wrote me:

Same thing - calls within minutes, pushy annoying sales people trying
to get me to commit NOW.

Ugh, when I was in sales I didn't operate that way and I made good money.

And I got a hell of a deal, right at the bottom of the interest rates before the rates went up. Unfortunately for him, I won't be
refinancing *this* loan!

Laugh, nice!

Shawn

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Because why would I make a call?

Sometimes you have to.. Sometimes, things like making a doctor appointment, contacting customer service to resolve an issue, etc.
require calling and talking to someone.

I mean, I'm not sure if it'd surprise you, but I'm aware of the possible use for phones. But with all those things, I'd be using e-mail or websites, if at all possible. Or going in person.

And I'm sure I've eaten some costs because having to make a phone call was not worth whatever I was losing.

Which I'm sure some businesses do intentionally, though I do try to avoid those businesses.

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Hi Adept,
In a message to Nightfox you wrote:

Which I'm sure some businesses do intentionally, though I do try to
avoid those businesses.

I just wanted a quote on insurance, I filled in a questionaire online, in
good faith I even provided correct information just in case I was interested
in the quote.

All I can say is what a mistake, within 3 mins my phone was ringing and
pushy sales people started in. I was honest and told the first one I wasn't interested and their price was not competive with my existing plan.

After 3 days I think I blocked around 8 numbers from various sales people
who just couldn't understand why I wouldn't pay them.

I learned my lesson, stick with a local broker who won't bother me after I
tell them no.

Shawn


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Tiny wrote to Adept <=-

I just wanted a quote on insurance, I filled in a questionaire online,
in good faith I even provided correct information just in case I was interested in the quote.

All I can say is what a mistake, within 3 mins my phone was ringing and pushy sales people started in. I was honest and told the first one I wasn't interested and their price was not competive with my existing
plan.

I feel your pain. I did a mortgage refi through one of the online
mortgage places, and as soon as I entered my cell phone number and hit
<ok> I thought "Oh, no - what have I done?"

Same thing - calls within minutes, pushy annoying sales people trying to
get me to commit NOW.

I ended up calling the mortgage broker I used for my first mortgage (he
kept sending me holiday greeting emails, so I had his email saved).
Sorted the refi out quickly, painlessly, and took care of the details -
I'm sure the others wouldn't have been so service-oriented.

And I got a hell of a deal, right at the bottom of the interest rates
before the rates went up. Unfortunately for him, I won't be refinancing
*this* loan!



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