Hi Russell -- please do a reply to list, I am listening there ;) On 7/10/2012 7:31 PM, Russell Coker wrote:
On Sun, 7 Oct 2012, Andrew McGlashan <andrew.mcglashan@affinityvision.com.au> wrote:
The other concern with non AU stock (grey imports) is that the software on the phone itself could be a problem,
That's not a problem if you plan to re-flash the phone yourself.
I've been there, done that, right now I just want stock software from Samsung, no network branding, no other bloatware. I too had an S model, if it was my only Samsung experience, then I would not have gotten the S3. I was less than happy with the S overall, not enough RAM and the need to flash to get later OS (2.3.7). I am expecting 4.1 for my S3 any time now.
As an aside one issue is that the OS build seems to have the emergency number hard-coded. My Samsung Galaxy S running Cyanogenmod will call 112 while locked but not 000, my telco (Virgin on the Optus network) doesn't route 112 calls. The fact that my Galaxy S was bought locally wasn't relevant, it was the source of the CyanogenMod image that was the problem.
Okay.
also branding of the phone and different chips/features. I have a Samsung Galaxy S3, needless to say it is AU stock without carrier branding of any kind (not just unlocked). It has quad-core cpu and 1GB ram -- other models have dual-core and 2gb ram and different radios.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy_S_3
According to Wikipedia you must have the international version, the AU version has 2G of RAM. Kogan also sells a model with only 1G of RAM. I agree that paying more for double the RAM could be a good idea, although I have yet to find a great need for more than 384M.
Wikipedia is quite often just wrong..... There are multiple versions everywhere. What was most important to me when I purchased the phone was that I got it from a local supplier whom insisted that I got proper AU stock with proper AU warranty of an unbranded (and therefore naturally unlocked) phone. If you look at this link, you can see lots of AU variants: http://www.sammobile.com/firmware/ [just search on 9300] I definitely have an AU phone (if it is somehow also an International version, well so be it).
There are lots of variations, LTE radio is another variation.
The Galaxy S3 which is offered by Virgin mobile only supports 3G. The one Kogan sells supports Telstra NextG as well as 3G. Do you know how to get a Galaxy S3 in Australia with any LTE support?
The GSM and 3G frequencies are likely all the same in AU, no matter what provider. The 4G or LTE is currently, I believe, just an Optus variant to support their new use of the LTE frequency.
Can you suggest a good Australian supplier who has a price similar to the $499 for a Galaxy S3 from Kogan?
Perhaps try: http://www.thinkofus.com.au/Samsung-i9300-Galaxy-S-III-16GB-S3-p/7186.htm That is AU stock with 24 month Samsung warranty, a little more than $499 but not that much more. Kogan has $499 with 12 month warranty, 3 years add $79 or 5 years add $109 More about the Kogan option from their own webpage: "This Product is offered and supplied by Kogan HK Limited pursuant to the Terms and Conditions." Now, another complaint about Kogan is that you are buying from Kogan HK and therefore there is no tax invoice so you cannot claim GST on the purchase either! I think that LTE models have more RAM than non-LTE models, hence why my AU version which doesn't have LTE is 1GB RAM.
http://www.mobicity.com.au/phones/smartphones/android.html
Mobicity has the Galaxy S3 for $799 and the Galaxy Nexus for $389. Paying an extra $50 for the Galaxy Nexus might be a reasonable investment, but an extra $300 for the Galaxy S3 seems like a bad deal.
http://www.mobicity.com.au/samsung-galaxy-s3-i9305-16gb.html
Mobicity's Galaxy S3 supports Telstra LTE. But an extra $300 for the phone and extra expense for the Telstra network is going to cost too much for most people.
If I wanted LTE I'd consider getting a LTE Wifi bridge on Telstra pre-paid for when I really need it and just use 3G the rest of the time.
Cheers -- Kind Regards AndrewM Andrew McGlashan Broadband Solutions now including VoIP Current Land Line No: 03 9012 2102 Mobile: 04 2574 1827 Fax: 03 9012 2178 National No: 1300 85 3804 Affinity Vision Australia Pty Ltd http://affinityvision.com.au http://securemywireless.com.au http://adsl2choice.net.au In Case of Emergency -- http://affinityvision.com.au/ice.html