I needed a new phone. Today. There was no question about it, so I went with the Fascinate.
Bought it, ripped it open, and came to these forums.
#1 - above all else, know this - if you are used to a rooted/rom'ed Droid, you feel automatically disgusted when you start up this phone. Bloatware everywhere. I can't believe they actually put out such a nice phone in terms of hardware with such crappy software. My first thought was "If I can't get rid of this, this phone is going back tonight". Luckily, it can all be fixed.
Rooted. Followed an automatic guide here. Easy peasy.
Downloaded all my apps.
Launcher Pro was essential. Used the "hide" function. All bloatware/apps that I don't want/use/don't even want to look at were all put in the hide category. They aren't gone, they are just hidden, which is effectively the same thing for me.
Set up everything the way I am used to....
then I realized there was no LED indicator! Did some searches, downloaded "Noled" which pretty much gets around this by putting up a blinking colored light in the top left corner. Not exactly happy about this, but it's not a deal breaker. Very easy to notice if I missed a call/text. Just gotta get used to it, but I feel fine about it right now.
Power button is in a weird spot. I hope I get used to this, but it's REALLY in a bad spot because it's exactly opposite of the volume rocker which makes you hit the volume button when you try to hit the power button.
Power jack is in a weird spot. I'd rather have it at the bottom or the side, but its on the top. Strange, but hopefully I'll get used to that too.
GPS issues. This should be addressed soon with an update. It better be, at least.
That's the bad. Here's the good.
Phone is really fast, like - REALLY fast.
Screen is absolutely beautiful. This can't be stressed enough.
Very slim.
No keyboard which is just a personal preference.
Audio jack is really tight, which is just another personal preference.
Swype already installed.
That's it so far, only had it for 4 hours. The phone is almost close to perfect except for the placement of the power button and the power jack.
LED and bloatware are easily worked around.
All in all? Very happy. Nice phone, sleek, stylish, fast, super responsive, beautiful screen. Rooted - 4.5/5 stars. Non rooted - 2/5. Yes, the bloatware is that bad, really annoys me.
Hope this helps any of you on the edge.
Bought it, ripped it open, and came to these forums.
#1 - above all else, know this - if you are used to a rooted/rom'ed Droid, you feel automatically disgusted when you start up this phone. Bloatware everywhere. I can't believe they actually put out such a nice phone in terms of hardware with such crappy software. My first thought was "If I can't get rid of this, this phone is going back tonight". Luckily, it can all be fixed.
Rooted. Followed an automatic guide here. Easy peasy.
Downloaded all my apps.
Launcher Pro was essential. Used the "hide" function. All bloatware/apps that I don't want/use/don't even want to look at were all put in the hide category. They aren't gone, they are just hidden, which is effectively the same thing for me.
Set up everything the way I am used to....
then I realized there was no LED indicator! Did some searches, downloaded "Noled" which pretty much gets around this by putting up a blinking colored light in the top left corner. Not exactly happy about this, but it's not a deal breaker. Very easy to notice if I missed a call/text. Just gotta get used to it, but I feel fine about it right now.
Power button is in a weird spot. I hope I get used to this, but it's REALLY in a bad spot because it's exactly opposite of the volume rocker which makes you hit the volume button when you try to hit the power button.
Power jack is in a weird spot. I'd rather have it at the bottom or the side, but its on the top. Strange, but hopefully I'll get used to that too.
GPS issues. This should be addressed soon with an update. It better be, at least.
That's the bad. Here's the good.
Phone is really fast, like - REALLY fast.
Screen is absolutely beautiful. This can't be stressed enough.
Very slim.
No keyboard which is just a personal preference.
Audio jack is really tight, which is just another personal preference.
Swype already installed.
That's it so far, only had it for 4 hours. The phone is almost close to perfect except for the placement of the power button and the power jack.
LED and bloatware are easily worked around.
All in all? Very happy. Nice phone, sleek, stylish, fast, super responsive, beautiful screen. Rooted - 4.5/5 stars. Non rooted - 2/5. Yes, the bloatware is that bad, really annoys me.
Hope this helps any of you on the edge.
Last edited:
