Verizon XV6900 user possible converting to Omnia - Questions!

[JWhipple]

Hi everyone,

I'm a Verizon user / XV6900 owner and I've been considering switching to the Omnia (still with Verizon) but I have a few questions:

1) How fast is the Omnia compared to the XV6900?
2) Is the GPS gimped for Omnia phones on Verizon without a firmware hack? On the XV6900 with the latest Verizon ROM you can install a small app that allows you to access GPS capabilities with 3rd party apps like Google Maps.
3) Are they readily available, or is there a wait?
4) If the GPS is gimped, is there any way around it?

Thanks for indulging me!

[boolieman]

I came from a xv6900 and went to the omnia myself because i had issues with it deleting things off my memory card, none of that has happened on my omnia. As for the phone itself i love the way it has its own storage of 8 gb and then you can put your existing memory card and put up to a 16 as well. As for the speed it does some things a little slow like the acelorometer needs a bit tweaking out of the box since i had issues with it tilting when i didnt want it to and it tilting not quick enough, one thing i would advise if your into speed is to take off the widget system. The widgets are too big to fit on the screen and for what ive found samsung isnt going to support widgets for other programs. I am very pleased with the speed that it does play video at a higher quality and also you will notice as long as your in a mainly metropolitan area they did put the Rev A Evdo which is noticably faster and i get better signal, where i didnt used to get signal in my room which is in a basment i get perfectly good reception to make calls and my WMtorrent gets like 100kbps download so its a great improvment. The Gps out of the box is gimped to the verizon navigator which i havent used on it but i do know to get another application, it can be done but i have not done that myself. The redily available part is kind of hard for me as a consumer to say even though i do sell the phones at a walmart.

[MegaShark]

I have owned several windows mobile phones including the xv6900 i also had the storm (god awful). I must say the omnia is everything you like about the xv6900 plus eveything that its missing(wifi, accelerometer, and then some). Yes the gps is locked but im sure that will be taken care of soon enough. As far as speed its pretty quick you wont have any problems with lag even with only 128mb of ram. Of course with all windows mobile phones "tweeking" is needed to take full advantage and have complete enjoyment of the phone...only downside is the dongle stylus which cant be changed

p.s. as always remember to keeping running programs to a minimum so your phone stays happy

[Getitnowmarketing]

Originally Posted by JWhipple

Hi everyone,

I'm a Verizon user / XV6900 owner and I've been considering switching to the Omnia (still with Verizon) but I have a few questions:

1) How fast is the Omnia compared to the XV6900?
2) Is the GPS gimped for Omnia phones on Verizon without a firmware hack? On the XV6900 with the latest Verizon ROM you can install a small app that allows you to access GPS capabilities with 3rd party apps like Google Maps.
3) Are they readily available, or is there a wait?
4) If the GPS is gimped, is there any way around it?

Thanks for indulging me!

1) stock 6900 to omnia the omnia is faster but not nearly as much as one would think with the faster processor.
2) gimped and currently not unlockable
3) plenty in stock
4) not untill Verizon unlocks it in Q2 of 09 as per vzw press release

Other: the 5 megapixel camera is nice as well as the larger display screen and its a half vga compared to 6900 quarter vga res. However it has a stylus that doesn't insert into the phone You can thread it in a loop and it dangles or carry it in pocket which is a very poor design. Also, custom rom development that you had on your 6900 is virtually non-exisitant on samsung WM phones. I would recommend staying with HTC and getting the full VGA Touch Pro if you enjoy custom roms or the ability to make your own rom.

[JWhipple]

As far as the custom ROMs go, I ran into a snag each and every time I've tried doing it - each time in the exact same place!

Nobody could help me - in fact, if I recall correctly, nobody tried!

So, I've stuck with the original ROM until the updated Verizon ROM was just released.

Sticking with factory ROM is not an issue for me.

[Adrynalyne]

Not really fair to bash the Omnia on lack of custom ROMs, because whereas the i900 has had numerous firmware releases, there are MANY custom ROMs. However, there has not been a CDMA i910 ROM release yet. Once there is, I expect the ROM scene to be quite different.

[syrguy1969]

Adrynalyne is right...the i900 and i910 are totally different devices, and if you tried to flash a custom ROM your VERY lucky you hit a snag that stopped you. When the i910 first came out I saw a lot of people bricking their phones!!!!

There is a rumored firmware update being released soon...possible in just a few months (it is rumored to be a firmware update that unlocks the GPS).

[JWhipple]

Thanks everyone for your input - I've live now on my Omnia!